Blogs of Potential

So this is the future, blogging about blogging about blogging in the classroom. While this isn't my first experience with the process of blogging, it is the first time I've put it in context with education and teaching. My initial reaction was that blogging would be a great alternative to paper journals that students hand in to teachers or that maybe students can (much like we're doing here) create a blog about a particular topic and update it as the semester/unit progresses. The Alberta Education website that was suggested for this class states that the ICT curriculum focuses on three concepts:

• communicating, inquiring, decision making and problem solving
• foundational operations, knowledge and concepts
• processes for productivity

Abstract concepts without a doubt. But interestingly enough student blogs provide one exercise that addresses each concept. Anyone who has setup a blog (as we've all learned) would not argue with the fact that decision making and problem solving are a key to building a clear and concise blog. The rest of the concepts would be handled by the teacher's requirements for the blog ("this week add a video which we've been working on in class") or simply by the nature of blogging itself. If done correctly, blogging is also quick and often more substantial way of meeting your classmates. It has the power to build friendships (sharing interests that would otherwise be unknown), to enhance knowledge of a subject (putting it into your own words), and just giving students a place to practice writing. Blogging has its limits but it also has enormous potential.