International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN (Online): 2319-7064

Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391

Blogging in the 21st-Century Classroom

Jasminka Kochoska1, Josif Petrovski2
1
University “St.Kliment Ohridski“, Faculty of Education-Bitola, “Vasko Karangelevski“ bb, Bitola, 7000, R.Macedonia

2
University “St.Kliment Ohridski“, Faculty of Education-Bitola, “Vasko Karangelevski“ bb, Bitola, 7000, R.Macedonia

Abstract: Every classroom needs a moderated, online space where students can share their ideas with others and receive feedback.
While blogging has “been around” and used in classrooms all over the world for more than ten years now, classroom blogs are still rare
in many schools and communities. Blogging is a fantastic way to strengthen the connections between home, school and the world. Like
other kinds of technology, blogging platforms have continued to evolve and change, but the reasons why students should regularly blog
have remained consistent. Blogging, as assignment can be adapted to every grade and subject area. Encouraging students to blog about
topics from other classes helps them see connections among subjects and realize that writing is a worthwhile skill in any field. Blogs
have the potential to expand student creativity and their writing skills. These are 21st century students and are adapting to a digital
world that they are eager to learn from. Educators are using blogs in many ways including as online portfolios, for student personal
reflective journals, as a record of field notes, as discipline specific spaces for knowledge sharing, as a space for student dialogue and for
class administration. These days there are so many social networks, but there's something about having a space, potentially free from
the distractions of a billion adverts and countless competing status updates.

Keywords: blog, education, students, technology

1. Introduction promote open dialogue and encourage community building

in which both the bloggers and commenters exchange
Educators are encouraged to integrate technology into their opinions, ideas, and attitudes. Teachers can use a blog to
classrooms because today the students are exposed to all publish instructional materials that the students can access to
sorts of digital devices in their daily life. Classroom and where the students can make comments. Teachers can
blogging is an excellent way to use the internet for more also let students set up their own blogs for a particular
than just research. Educational blog can serve as an online subject or for several subjects and then assign tasks to
portfolio to showcase student work. It can give the "silent students.
student" a voice by allowing them the opportunity to write
on topics of interest. Student work is available immediately This is one of the ways for teachers to observe and monitor
for peers to review or for others on the World Wide Web to the students' progress, and identify the learning needs that
comment and post feedback. All of these factors can be have not been considered. Teachers can classify, summarize
motivating for students to learn. All these factors, related to and evaluate different students' blogs and then publish the
the blog, can have a motivating effect on student teachers' opinions, directions, and feedback on their own
performance and their learning. [11] blogs or on class blogs. Actually by doing this, teachers are
putting students to the right tracks, because if you just let
Using blogs as a teaching tool appear along with increased students publish whatever they like, the use of blog could be
student interest in introducing digital literacy skills in the out of control, and the relevance between the blog and the
classroom as a means of preparing students for the 21st content being taught and learning will be reduced. [14]
century marketplace. There are several possible ways of using the power of
educational blogging in a classroom context. These are the
Blogs can be used to improve student writing, especially for main ones:
developing skill in analysis and critique. Blogs provide a
means for student response to or discussion of outside-of-  Teacher communications-using a blog to communicate
class readings that are not adequately covered during class. school or class news with students and their parents.
They can be useful as a forum for group projects, or act as a  Teacher blogging about the subject- to encourage debate
collaborative authoring tool for students to develop and among students, to engage them actively with the content
present a group assignment or project. Blogs can be a place by leaving comments with their opinions.
where students reflect on readings, much as analog  Student blogging- each student can contribute under their
journaling was used as a pedagogical tool in the past. [4] own user profile or each student has their own blog for
sharing their thoughts about a particular subject or
2. The Meaning of the Term Educational Blog subjects. [5]

An educational blog is publication mechanism, like a journal A blog is a frequently updated website consisting of dated
or bulletin which is created for educational purposes. Mainly entries called posts (including text, images, media objects,
it is made to archive and support student and teacher and data) arranged in reverse chronological order so the
learning by facilitating reflection, questioning by self and most recent entry appears first. Each post can have three
others, collaboration and by providing contexts for engaging basic attributes: title, link, and description. Educational blog
in higher-order thinking. Educational blogs can be used to can be used as virtual environments where all students can

Volume 6 Issue 1, January 2017

www.ijsr.net
Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
Paper ID: ART20164147 DOI: 10.21275/ART20164147 861
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391
participate in critical discourse on scientific topics. They can cooperative learning activities that require them to relay
be published by an individual or small group of individuals research findings, ideas, or suggestions.
in a personal and informal style. It also can be a useful tool  Discussions- A class blog opens the opportunity for
to link communication between study groups within a class students to discuss topics outside of the classroom. This
or other classes or even schools. If use effectively, blogs can is the way where every person has an equal opportunity
create a learning environment that extend beyond the to share their thoughts and opinions. Students have time
schoolyard. [10] to be reactive to one another and reflective. Teachers can
also bring together a group of knowledgeable individuals
Blogs are native to the web, so they can dynamically take for a given unit of study for students to network and
advantage of the interconnected nature of the web. Diaries conference with on a blog.
and journals are native to paper- they can only statically  Student Portfolios- Educational blogs can present
refer to other information sources. Blogs, on the other hand, organize and protect student work as digital portfolios.
provide a doorway, through the hyperlink, directly to that As older entries are archived, developing skills and
idea. Generally, they include space for public comments at progress may be analyzed more conveniently.
the end of each post. Hence, they are motivated by the topic Additionally, as students realize their efforts will be
of the thread (general theme of a post) but are nevertheless a published, they are typically more motivated to produce
form of discussion through ongoing commentary. This better writing. Teachers and peers may conference with a
progression from post to comments then a new post to more student individually on a developing work, and expert or
comments in many ways reflects the practice of peer mentoring advice can be easily kept for future
professionals in the scientific community. The structure of reference. [10]
blogging has great potential to support professional methods
of practice in science. [6] Regarding the use of educational blogs is important to note
the following. Students should build their blogging “skill
3. The Use of Blogs in Education set”. They should learn about quality commenting, blogging
etiquette, online safety and blogging terminology amongst
Blogging has transformed teaching and learning by other things. A sense of classroom community should be
developing a learning network. There is an authentic developed. [7] It is necessery for teacher to take action of
audience, a global audience- one that is willing to connect, own classroom blogging program to encourage comments,
share, challenge, discuss and communicate with others. This ensure writing standards remain high, monitor that students
audience can provide further information, opinions, suggest are growing their skills, or strengthen links with parents. [8]
resources, seek answers to questions etc. which pushes the Students, teachers and parents can learn and share together
blogging further. Students have online space and attempt to all the wonderful things that are happening in the classroom.
keep work accurate and pleasing to the eye. It extends their A sense of identity for the class is also developed and the
learning beyond the classrooms and increases their exposure blog becomes an online meeting place for all. Parents can
to other teachers across the globe. It gives an insight into the also learn about blogging. Educating parents about blogging
complexity of the students- their likes, dislikes, what they do is very important. Parents won‟t be willing or able to get
outside school etc. Students are no longer confined to their involved in your class or student blogs if they don‟t have the
class groupings or teachers within a classroom. [9] knowledge and skills required. [7]

Every classroom needs a moderated, online space where These days there are so many social networks, but there's
students can share their ideas with others and receive something about having a space, potentially free from the
feedback. While blogging has “been around” and used in distractions of a billion adverts and countless competing
classrooms all over the world for more than ten years now, status updates. And the best thing is, there are a load of free
classroom blogs are still rare in many schools and blogs out there to get started. Considering that blog is a great
communities. Like other kinds of technology, blogging way to express the thoughts, there is an opportunity to create
platforms have continued to evolve and change, but the a web presence to provide content to Internet users.
reasons why students should regularly blog have remained
consistent. [2] There are many blog- publishing services, but the most
popular are these: Contentful, Jekyll, WordPress, Tumblr,
Blogs can serve at least four basic functions. Blogger, Medium, Svbtle, LiveJournal, Weebly, Postach.io,
 Classroom Management- Educational blogs can serve Pen.io, Ghost etc. [3]
as a portal to foster a community of learners. As they are
easy to create and update efficiently, they can be used to 4. Benefits of using blogging as a learning tool
inform students of class requirements, post handouts,
notices, and homework assignments, or act as a question Blogs have the potential to expand student creativity and
and answer board. their writing skills. These are 21st century students and are
 Collaboration- Blogs provide a space where teachers adapting to a digital world that they are eager to learn from.
and students can work to further develop writing or other Educators are using blogs in many ways including as online
skills with the advantage of an instant audience. Teachers portfolios, for student personal reflective journals, as a
can offer instructional tips, while students can practice record of field notes, as discipline specific spaces for
and benefit from peer review. They also make online knowledge sharing, as a space for student dialogue and for
mentoring possible. Students can also participate in class administration. To keep up with cutting edge research
as it happens. [1] Fortunately for teachers, blogs are
Volume 6 Issue 1, January 2017
www.ijsr.net
Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
Paper ID: ART20164147 DOI: 10.21275/ART20164147 862
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391
surprisingly easy to use. They require minimum technical teachers on the use of educational blogs and benefits of
knowledge and are quickly and easily created and student blogging, among other things, gave the following
maintained. Students will be able to pick up how to use answers:
blogging platforms with minimal technical assistance and  Students expect more of themselves, and the teacher
teachers will enjoy the ease in the initial setup. Students and expects more of them too. They no longer create just for
teachers will find them convenient and accessible via any the teacher, but they create for the world.
computer or mobile device. [12]  Students are more reflective about their own learning
because of their blogs. They are able to look at their
There are numerous educational benefits of blogs. Blogs are: learning, think about the process, and then write about
 Highly motivating to students, especially for those who the experience. Additionally, the students love feedback
might not become participants in classrooms. that goes beyond our classroom walls.
 Excellent opportunities for students to read and write.  Blogging opened up the possibilities of audience in new
 Effective forums for collaboration and discussion. ways. So, when they are considering writing or
 Powerful tools to enable scaffolding learning or publishing for an audience other than the teacher, that
mentoring to occur. really impacts how they view what they doing and the
intrinsic motivation they have.
Blogging allows students to express their opinion, to  Students love seeing their work on the Internet and adore
articulate their views and build a readership, which can be a getting comments from people. It motivates them to write
very motivating experience for them. Sharing ideas on the as it gives them an audience that is real. They find it hard
internet can also put them in touch with like-minded to be motivated when they know the writing is just going
individuals and with those who may challenge their ideas, in their books and will only be read by themselves, the
which means that they may be required to defend their teacher and their parents. The blog opens up a whole new
opinions. world of people who can offer encouragement and
feedback.
It‟s great experience which demonstrates enthusiasm for the  The blogging experience has forced the students to do
subject and a willingness to share ideas with others, as well more reflection on their learning and has allowed them to
as developing enthusiasm for communicating ideas in a way showcase products they have produced with online tools.
that will prove useful beyond the classroom. It also teaches  Blogging provides an authentic educational experience,
students about the importance of „responsible journalism‟ where what they write is not only seen and commented
such as backing up ideas with concrete evidence, citing on by their teacher, but by their peers and the “public”.
research and so on. For most students, it‟s a bit of extra motivation knowing
their peers will see their work.
Blogging about a subject is more engaging than simply  There is an authentic audience- a global audience- one
reading a textbook. If students are to write about a subject on that is willing to connect, share, challenge, discuss and
a public platform like a blog, they need to be completely communicate with us. This audience can provide further
familiar with the subject and comfortable expressing an information, opinions, suggest resources, seek answers to
opinion about it. This encourages a deeper understanding questions etc. which pushes the blogging further.
and greater engagement with the subject. Unlike when they  Blogging develops a learning network. [13]
write an essay that only the teacher will read, blogging gives
their work an indefinite life beyond the classroom and Educational blogs provides a wide range of learning abilities
invites others to engage with it. [5] and introduces a range of media that give added impact.
Students use technology constantly outside school, so
Blogs are of high benefit to the education system. Blogs: blogging is a great opportunity for using technology for
 Are personalized and customized online spaces and a learning within and beyond the classroom. Technology
source of pride. allows learning to become accessible from any region and
 Enable a full range of media to be used catering for the networking is enabled on a global scale. The collective
diversity of student learning styles. ideas, resources, established or innovative units of
 Are a necessary 21st century digital skill and teaches teaching/learning, experiences from a combined “global
many digital literacy skills brain“will push the learning and teaching to more powerful
 Can be used to learn in a practical manner the following: levels.
cyber safety, netiquette and digital citizenship
 Provide an online space for further interaction, References
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Volume 6 Issue 1, January 2017

www.ijsr.net
Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
Paper ID: ART20164147 DOI: 10.21275/ART20164147 863
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391
Creativity: Author Profile
http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2015/08/05/classroom
-blogging-options-august-2015/ Jasminka Kochoska is an assistant professor at the
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Volume 6 Issue 1, January 2017

www.ijsr.net
Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
Paper ID: ART20164147 DOI: 10.21275/ART20164147 864