What is a Blog and why you should use it in your classroom

Blogs. If it was 2014 and a teacher told his class that they would be making blogs, all of the Tumblr fans would scream at the chance to show off their blogging skills. Despite this goofy introduction, you might be left wondering: What even is a blog?

Blogs

Blogs are another form of social media that is much more personalized to the creator. Think back to MySpace where the only limits on your page was your creativity... and the ability to edit via HTML. Blogs are a bit similar, in fact, many allow for you to still make HTML edits. However, the ability to format is much different and much user friendly on most websites. 

Now that we know they are easy to personalize, we still need to know: What is a Blog? 

If you've used Tumblr and clicked on a user's 'page', then you've visited a Blog. If not, have you ever visited a website with 'news-like' articles that may have featured personal opinions on some of the silliest of things? (Team Edward vs Team Jacob) Well, that's most likely a Blog as well.

Typically, the main difference between a Blog and any run of the mill website is the user behind it. If its a company that is managing the page, the feel of the blog is much more just a corporate stir of PR campaigns and stunts meant to receive positive attention from the public. 

Bloggers (people who create/maintain blogs) are typically individuals or part of a small group of people. Their Blog could be about make up brands with EXCLUSIVE hot opinions about what make up is the best and which belongs in the trash. A Blog can be about anything conceivable - it is another platform in which people can write what they want and allow for the public to view their work.

How can this be good for a classroom?

Use in the Classroom

I'm sure plenty of people will be scratching their heads wondering why in the world would a teacher allow for a student to use a social media site in the classroom, but those people are probably not teachers.

Students need multiple outlets in order to build up their skills and increase their creativity. Sure, plenty of people have written a summary about a book to simply turn it in to their teacher and wait for a grade. But, has a student ever taken their summary and put in a blog post, adding images, headings, and other personalized pieces to make the reading experience better?

Much like our work into differentiated lesson plans, a Blog is a tool that can be used to achieve the same goal as the standard assignment. My undergraduate time was spent making multiple blogs for my classes to submit to my professor. This training in reporting and writing for mass media in turn helped me become a reporter in Magnolia, AR, with no training time spent learning how to write for a newspaper. 

On the student level, its a great way to submit assignments that defers from traditionalist views. By giving the students the opportunity to express themselves, it allows for them to feel committed to their work and provide a higher quality piece to their teachers - an experience I have lived through as a student!

The most difficult choice has to be choosing which Blog Site to use. My recommendation: Google Blogger.