Educational Blogging: Is it applicable and Useful?

 Is Educational Blogging something that should be used in classrooms?

    One of the many questions that we receive from parents is, what is educational blogging? As a society, we hear a lot about blogs, but we rarely hear about educational blogging. An educational blog is a blog that has an educational purpose. Another important question is what are the benefits of blogging in education for both teachers and students? The benefits of blogging for students are that it promotes self-expression, exercises students' creativity, improves their writing skills, and many more. The benefit for teachers is that they can promote the exchange of their teaching ideas and experiences along with their beliefs for transforming education. 

A graphic showing different ways
to use blogs in the classroom

    Reading other teachers' blogs can be very beneficial for an educator. From reading other peers' blogs I was able to be further educated on topics such as classroom management, parental involvement, and school safety.  When it comes to classroom management it is important to recognize that it is a learning curve and that there are always professional learning opportunities to further your development. Classroom management is one of the key ways to have a classroom that runs effectively to benefit your learners. A chaotic classroom can limit what the children can learn.  By maximizing management within your classroom using different techniques, you can have an approach that maximizes the time and material being presented. Parental Involvement also plays into how your classroom functions effectively. By having parental involvement in your classroom, you can promote more active learning and it helps promote students to stay in education longer, thus decreasing school drop-out rates. School safety also plays a big role in the ways that your classroom is managed. Students need to feel safe when in your classroom and school to maximize their learning development and abilities. It is important as educators to recognize that school safety is not just about physical safety, but also mental safety. By being able to be proactive in discussing and ensuring school safety, you can make a big difference in helping students feel safe in their learning environments. 

    I personally had never blogged before my ETEC class at The University of Tennessee. Now that I have been able to learn how to create a blog, and make meaningful posts I do hope to use an education blog in my future and current classrooms. After doing more research on educational blogging, I also want to incorporate educational blogging with my students by having them and their parents set up blogs to demonstrate their viewpoints about the classroom and their child's learning. Educational blogging can be beneficial in a classroom, and I look forward to continuing blogging throughout my career.