3. RATIONALE FOR USING BLOG IN EDUCATION
There are numerous reasons for using blogs in education, such as to provide a real audience for
student writing, to provide extra reading practice for students, to increase the sense of
community in a class, to encourage students to participate, to create an online portfolio of student
written work (Stanley, 2005). The novelty factor creates student interest in starting to use blogs.
It is claimed that blogs work best when learners get into the habit of using them. If learners are
not encouraged, blogs can quickly be abandoned.
Blogs are well suited to serve as on-line personal journals for students, particularly since they
normally enable uploading and linking of files. Language learners could use a personal blog,
linked to a course, as an electronic portfolio, showing development over time. By publishing the
blog on the Internet, the student has the possibility of writing for readers beyond classmates, not
usually possible in discussion forums. Readers in turn can comment on what they're read,
although blogs can be placed in secured environments as well. Self-publishing encourages
ownership and responsibility on the part of students, who may be more thoughtful (in content
and structure) if they know they are writing for a real audience. This same degree of personal
responsibility is lacking in discussion forums.