Why Blogs are Effective

Blogging - Initially, I was unaware of the benefits of blogging. I found out that a Blog is a shortened term for a Web Log and it is a form of a web-based journal. Once I knew this I began blogging with much excitement. I believe that blogs are a great learning tool as it is very student centric and is a great way to bring technology into the classroom. In Graduate Diploma of Learning and Teaching, the blog has been an effective tool to create a journal of our learning and share ideas, pictures, avatars and videos with others to enhance everyone's learning. Peer teaching and seeing models of others work is also effective as we are blogging about similar interests, passions and practice.

This notion is described by Wenger (2006) as a Community of Practice where "The term "community of practice" is of relatively recent coinage, even though the phenomenon it refers to is age-old. The concept has turned out to provide a useful perspective on knowing and learning. A growing number of people and organizations in various sectors are now focusing on communities of practice as a key to improving their performance."
Retrieved from www.ewenger.com/theory/ on the 9th April, 2010.

The use of the blog not only helps us as teachers to reflect on our learning and share with others; it would also be effective for use in our classrooms when teaching. I have seen that blogs can be used for children who are in remote locations and need tutoring online where they can do activities. As a Drama and English teacher I feel blogs would be a good tool for children to display their creative writing and ideas which would also encourage them to write. Young people nowadays enjoy the use of technology in their classes as this is what they are used to and it engages them. This can be seen in Kearsley and Schneiderman's (1999), 'Engagement Theory' as they state that, "Technology provides an electronic learning mileux that fosters the kind of creativity and communication needed to nourish engagement." They also believe that "the engagement theory represents a new paradigm for learning and teaching in the information age which emphasizes the positive role that technology can play in human interaction and evolution. " Retrieved from http:http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

References:
Kearsley,G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999)'Engagement Theory - A Framework for technology - based teaching and learning'. Retrieved from http:http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Wenger, E. (2006)'Communities of Practice'. Retrieved from http://www.ewenger.com/theory/ on the 8th April 2010.