Blogs, or Weblogs are, in their base form, simply online journals. Such journals can be public or private and allow both faculty and students an opportunity to express themselves in a form other than the formal essay.

Strategies and Resources

The following list provides several examples of blogs and highlights a few of their key benefits:

• Foster opportunities for reflection: Journaling provides students and faculty with an opportunity to reflect upon what they are learning and doing. The tone of a blog can range from intensely personal and informal to more formal with most blogs falling somewhere between these two extremes.
• Foster a sense of community: Blogs offer the opportunity for informal communication and creativity of expression. Such opportunities allow for the unique personalities of students and faculty to emerge, creating a better sense of community, especially in an online class environment
• Develop a sense of connectiveness: In courses that have service learning components or are intensive in nature, reflective blogs allow students to stay connected to their peers and their instructor. It also allows one to quickly interact with a diverse audience.

Rubric for assessing learning in blogs

Additional Readings and Resources

Glenn, D. (2003). Scholars who blog: The soapbox of the digital age draws a crowd of academics. Chronicle of Higher Education (originally printed, June 6, 2003).

• This article provides information about Scholars who blog as a means of stimulating academic discourse.

EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (2005). Seven things you should know about blogs.

• What's a blog and what some suggestions for educational applications.

Instructional Technology Development (ITD)

• Identify university-supported tools for blogging

Instructional Design and Development (IDD)

• Learn how to incorporate blogs in a hybrid or online class.