The Practicality of Blogs

I resisted the use of blogs for a long time. I thought it a waste of my precious time, that I could better express myself via the old-fashioned methods of paper and pen. I didn't really care for the entire world to have access to my most personal thoughts, nor did I think myself interesting enough for the whole world to care.

However, when I went abroad I began to think differently. I considered the fact that a lot of dear friends back home might be interested in the goings-on of my altered life, a life they had once had regular access to via simple phone conversations and visits, but now would be completely cut off from, unless I did something to keep them abreast. Thus, I created my first blog at vox.com. I used it mostly to post pictures and detail the almost daily adventures I had in Austria and other European countries. I think it brought friends back home a lot of satisfaction to see just what I was doing, thinking, and that I was surviving without them. Not only that, but without a doubt the simple knowledge that I was writing for somebody helped me to keep things interesting, and indeed helped in the process of survival, since I knew I wasn't completely alone. 

I also have no doubt that blogs could be just as beneficial to students learning to write and think critically. It goes without saying that a little introspection helps a person to grow in thought and character. When Richardson writes, "[students] will surely give [blogging] up at the end of the semester unless we've shown them why it's important to keep writing and to keep learning," I have to agree. Writing via blog can be a vital tool in the development of our students' minds and integrity, but it is essential for the teacher to model the proper approach toward blogging.

I was thankful Richardson mentions something about blog safety. As I wrote in my last post, the Internet can be a big, scary place sometimes, and utilizing blogs in the classroom doesn't simply enable our students to access the Net: it wholly endorses it. Hence, we must be careful to appropriate the technology in such a way that our students understands that there are indeed boundaries in what seems at times like a boundless domain. Boundaries must be pitched to our students as means of growth, development, and even survival. Were our society entirely without laws, then it's hard to imagine the chaos that could ensue. Likewise, we must abide by, and indeed even enjoy "laws" in using the Net, blogs included. We aim for the blogs to be an important means of our students' self-expression, while keeping those same students safe from virtual predators.