The Prose of Blogging by Rama Ramaswami

Mr. Dipiano gave me the November, 2008 issue of The Journal. In it was very good article on Blogging and the educational pros and cons. Here is the link to the article online:

http://thejournal.com/articles/23562

Here are some quotes:
"We don't start out by saying we want to start a blog," he says. "We say, 'We want to do X or Y-- what's the tool that makes the most sense to use?'"

"The kids know the technology. What they don't often know is how the technology can change them as students. Just because they understand Facebook doesn't mean they understand how to be a better student of English or history.

"Blogging for the sake of blogging is fine, but what is the value added?"

...set out to show that blogging could improve students' writing skills by making them write more frequently and comment on one another's work.

"The teacher used blogs for the students to keep as a journal and flesh out ideas for point/counterpoint argument," Bachenheimer says. "There was interaction among the students and there was writing all day long, before school, during school, and after school. That was a bonus."

Stay tuned for more about this article in later posts.