To use Blogs to teach or not to teach, that is the question?

The title of this article is a major butchering of the quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “to be or not to be, that is the question”. But I think that it is very appropriate in this case. Have you ever stopped to consider the role that blogs can play in the field of education? In my case, I am involved with students who complete their education through a form of distance learning. So, I believe that blogging could be a great way to foster learning in students and can help the educator to see how effectively that students are embracing and engaging with the information they are mastering in their classes. It’s easy to tell a student to complete these worksheets or to create this PowerPoint to ensure that we give students access to technology. It’s much harder to explain why we use technology to enhance how students learn in the classroom, whether learning in the virtual or in a more traditional classroom setting. The use of blogs can help students learn to communicate their ideas through writing, as well as through videos and podcasts. Students must learn how to teach themselves skills for survival in everyday life. Learning to communicate through blogs and similar formats can help students to find motivation in the way they learn new information and put it together with information from the past.

For educators, I think that blogging is a good way to help us maintain our edge in education. What do I mean? What I mean is that when we educators are more involved in learning new skills to be better teachers, than our students can be empowered by educators who are excited about their subject fields. Have you ever been in a classroom where the person was very knowledgeable about their field, but may have not been the best communicator about why their field of study was so exciting? I know that has happened to me in the past. However, I am someone who is self-motivated to learn new things. Some students are adventurous and try new things. Many students, though, need some motivation and encouragement to facilitate learning. That is what all good educators do. They motivate students to be their personal best and allow them to see that it is okay to fail at first. The point is that someone does not live in failure. They get up and try again. So, when students see their teachers try and fail at things, but get up and try again, that can be very motivating for teachers and for their students as well. I want to end this blog session with something to consider. Educators are told to use technology to help our students to succeed and be their best. The question that I pose to you is this—Do we structure our classes and assignments to fit our use of technology or do we use our technology to augment our classes and assignments for our students? I would love to hear your responses.