How blogging benefits students

If blogs are used correctly in educational settings, benefits for students can include:

• interactivity and greater interest beyond class time,
• increased and instant feedback from fellow students and others as well as the instructor, and
• increased motivation (and sometimes competitiveness) due to the public nature. (Kaplan, Piskin, & Bol, 2010a)

These fit well with Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) widely published and accepted “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education” which are as follows:
1. Encourages contact between students and faculty,
2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students,
3. Encourages active learning,
4. Gives prompt feedback,
5. Emphasizes time on task,
6. Communicates high expectations,
7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning.

Anderson (2007) identifies additional benefits provided by the use of social software in education such as:

“the freedom to negotiate the time and place of learning, the content, the pace and the type of relationship with other learners and the teacher.” (as cited in (Hatzipanagos & Warburton, 2009)

Blogs also provide a place for students to log a record of their thoughts (reflection).



Anderson, P. (2007). What is Web 2.0?: ideas, technologies and implications for education. Technology & Standards Watch Report, Feb.

Chickering, A., & Gamson, Z. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE bulletin, 39(7), 3-7.

Hatzipanagos, S., & Warburton, S. (2009). Feedback as dialogue: exploring the links between formative assessment and social software in distance learning. Learning, Media and Technology, 34(1), 45-59.

Kaplan, M., Piskin, B., & Bol, B. (2010b). Educational Blogging: Integrating Technology into Marketing Experience. Journal of Marketing Education, 32(1), 50-63.

About blogs

Blogs are a popular internet social software technology being incorporated into educational settings. The term “weblog” was coined in 1997 by Jorn Barger and has since been shortened or abbreviated to “blog”, serving as both a noun and a verb. (Doctorow, Powers, & Johnson, 2002)

Blogs are online journals, organized in a reverse chronological order, which provide a public online forum for an individual or groups’ thoughts and writings and allow for interactivity, as readers can freely comment. Past blog postings receive a permanent link, allowing for the preservation of older posts and linking using unique URLs.

“In a business context, blogs provide a forum for learning. It logically follows therefore, that the experience of collective knowledge generation can and should be applied to traditional educational environments.” (Williams & Jacobs, 2004)

The most prominent development in the Internet since 2006

According to Grant and Meadows in their book Communication Technology Update and Essentials, Web 2.0, social software and the “social networking phenomenon” is “the most prominent development in the Internet since 2006.” This prominent development has not yet reached full adoption in education, however. Can it be effectively used in educational settings? I believe so.

Welcome and Purpose

Welcome to my blog! Ironically, I will begin by blogging about effective educational uses of social software, such as blogs.  Can social software be used effectively in education?  If so, how?  What are the benefits and considerations for instructors?

I welcome your comments.  Blogs, as a social medium, are most effective when people are interacting.