Why Should Students Blog?

Why should students blog, you ask? Good question. There are several reasons students should blog.

1. Blogging requires students to be aware that they have an audience. Alan November makes mention of the value of authentic audiences in this TED talk. When they blog, students never know who might read or comment on what they've written, so they have to write like they mean what they're saying. The last thing a teenager wants is to find him- or her- self being criticized in a reply because they didn't write like they meant it. And the best thing that can happen to a teenager is to have somebody they don't already know provide positive feedback. Everyone likes to feel like their ideas are appreciated.
2. It invites students to embed research into their writing in a meaningful way. Having problems getting them to incorporate the work of others into their writing? Try having them blog about the topic and tell them to include outside sources. They have to know what they're linking to and why it's relevant (as well as explain it a little) in order to effectively tackle the request. Check out this page about getting started with a blog and look at how many links the author includes. She didn't have to spell out everything that the links said; she had to know enough about what they said to give them context, then pass along the relevant information and the link. It's a little like writing a research paper and using quotes, (usually) minus the quotes.
3. The comments that students get on blogs can provide them with an opportunity to rethink or defend their original post, elaborate on the topic if they were less than thorough in the original post, or reflect on what they have written. This blog post talks about the benefits of blogging; I particularly think the last point is particularly important with high school students.
4. It provides the potential to have the entire class become involved in the discussion, but in a way that requires them to think about what they're saying. Here's a website that covers the basics of how to set up a class blog. And here's a blog from a teacher in the trenches, blogging about what she's learned about effective blogging in the classroom. There are a ton of other resources out there about how to blog with a class, but these are two good places to start. Following their links will take you further down the rabbit hole... 
5. This one's probably obvious, but it gets them writing! And thinking about what they've learned! And generating their own ideas on topics! (Can you tell I find this part exciting?)

While this list is not a complete list of all the reasons I think students should blog, I'm hoping that it at least makes an argument for why teachers should consider it... and maybe even give it a try.

One final thought on blogging: it's not just for students. Teachers can benefit from blogging, too. Here's a resource that talks about why teachers should blog, including providing additional background information and advice on setting up, and here's an article on how blogging helps build stronger teachers. Blogging provides teachers with a chance to reflect on our practices, while at the same time providing a chance to hone our own writing skills. Here's one more post about blogging in the classroom; it says a lot of what I've already said, but in different ways, and with different resources. The power of blogging, at your fingertips.

The bottom line on blogging is this: we want students to write. In fact, we want them to write well. Blogging invites students to write for an audience, to think about not just what they're saying, but how they're saying it (think... style), and to synthesize complex ideas into meaningful writing. Students who blog are students who are reflecting on their learning, improving their writing, and discovering that they, too, can add to the global discussion on any topic. 

Now that is powerful learning.

Check out this Flipboard magazine I put together with resources about the topic.