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Blogging for the 21 Century Teacher
What is a Blog? A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world. Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules. In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not. Since Blogger was launched in 1999, blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others. Reference: http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g
Educational Benefits of Blogs Fortunately for teachers, blogs are surprisingly easy to use. They require minimum technical knowledge and are quickly and easily created and maintained. Unlike many traditional Web sites, they are flexible in design and can be changed relatively easily. Best of all, students will find them convenient and accessible via home or library computers. In addition to providing teachers with an excellent tool for communicating with students, there are numerous educational benefits of blogs. Blogs are: • Highly motivating to students, especially those who otherwise might not become participants in classrooms. • Excellent opportunities for students to read and write. • Effective forums for collaboration and discussion. • Powerful tools to enable scaffolded learning or mentoring to occur. Reference: http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/47