Blogs in the Classroom

I have to admit, I've become intrigued by blogs. Can't wait to keep reading about them and to try them out with students!

Akbulut, Yavuz & Kiyici, Mubin. (2007). Instructional Use of Weblogs. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. 8.

Instructional Use of Weblogs, by Akbulut and Kiyici, is an interesting article, which brought up many points to be considered when using blogs with students. The main purpose of the article is to provide the reader with different uses of weblogs, as well as the pros and cons of using them within an educational setting. Although the article mentions the uses of blogs in non-educational settings, the audience is still those in education. I found the article especially helpful because it was broken up into both the upsides of using blogs in the classroom as well as the downsides. The authors conclude that all educators can and should use blogs in their classroom. The benefits of blog use are tremendous and far out-weigh the negatives. That being said, the authors caution their readers to be aware of blog use and to educate their students regarding its uses. I found this to be particularly helpful as the authors gave me any things to think about as I begin to use blogs with my students.