Blogging in the Classroom

During my undergraduate time at Mason I was a part of New Century College, which was all about cooperative learning and critical thinking. We had the opportunity to participate in many blogs throughout the four years as a part of assignment requirements, but I never looked at blogs as a way to enhance cooperative learning or critical thinking. I just thought of blogs as an outlet for people to share what is on their minds, or to share an important message they wanted to get across to a variety of audiences. After reading Blogging and New Literacies by Diane Penrod, my view of blogs has changed. 

My first thought is, what an AWESOME tool to have in your classroom. Not only will it peak students' interest because of the opportunity they will have to use technology, but it is also a great outlet for them to share their thoughts and work with other students and teachers. Before this article, I thought of cooperative learning as a way to "bring together students of diverse backgrounds or multiple intelligences, encourage prosocial behaviors and values among students, fosters higher-level reasoning, and deepen cognitive development." Penrod used this definition on page 23 of her article to describe cooperative learning, but I never thought of it beyond the physical/social interaction in the classroom. Blogging is a great way to encourage cooperative learning through the "feedback loop." It gives students the opportunity to post on others' sites and form a collective opinion about a particular topic. It is like cooperative learning in cyberspace. It fosters a whole different realm of prosocial behavior. Students have to learn to be respectful when posting on other blogs and analyzing/editing new information. They also have to learn to be respectful in the way they present their own blogs through the language they use. 

Another aspect of blogging that I never realized before is the amount of critical thinking one must use when creating posts or viewing others' posts. "They learn to read, write, analyze, and evaluate the information in front of them, with the intent of discovering more." (Pg 23) Students must learn to pick through the information they read about a topic and pull out the valuable parts and write them in a way that can be understood by others. Students must ask good questions, and learn to take a stand in their presentation when selecting information to share. They learn how to evaluate information for their own blogs, as well as evaluate the information presented by others. Through blogging, they come to realize that "no single person knows everything and that shared inquiry helps everyone uncover more useful information and knowledge." (Pg 23) Critical thinking is an important skill to develop in students. I think blogs are a great way to encourage critical thinking skills because they are constantly having to discern the information they are presenting and/or viewing. 

Here is an article by Allison Sawmiller that explains how to use classroom blogging in science instruction. Not only does it talk about the role of blogs in science, it also mentions how this tool can be used to develop cooperative learning and critical thinking in young scientists.

Classroom Blogging: What is the Role in Science Learning?

Until next time :)