Instructional Strategies for Blogging

An article by Ruth Reynard, Associate Professor from Trevecca Nazarene University in Tennessee, discusses the inherent, powerful learning opportunities for students when they reflect on their learning in a written fashion - in particular, through blogging. She states,

(w)hile the notion of "finding individual voice" is not new to the learning process, technology such as blogging has presented a unique opportunity for teachers and students to work intentionally at this process.

She continues, noting that

(s)tudent response statements really cover a wide variety of "types" that reflect the instructional goals of the courses. That is, when developing individual voice throughout a learning process, each stage of that process is often reflected in the students' comments. I have described each of these that I have noticed into the following categories:

• Reflective statements;
  
• Commentary statements;
  
• New idea statements; and
  
• Application statements.

In a 2005 article Blogs in Higher Ed: Personal Voice as Part of Learning, Reynard expresses the importance of blogging for learning:

(f)inding personal voice as a pedagogical method is important to establish learner identity and focus, and journaling has long been recognized as an effective way to provide space for this to occur.

Furthermore, with regard to assessing student learning,

(t)he idea that more than one person will view the work is quite powerful in promoting a sense of ownership from the student. Teachers can also benefit from "hearing" the personal voice of their students to begin to really understand the learning path of each student through a course.

For more information about the basics of blogging in education, visit this page, organized by Drs. Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson or visit The Center's Blog & Wiki Resource Page.

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What has been your experience with blogging for learning? How can blogging be used in your teaching, research/scholarship, service, and engagement? What type of blogging assignments do you create for students?

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