I have never used a blog before either in my classroom or in a personal setting, though the use of the Collaborative Documents and the Conferences in the Study Group section mirror many of the functions of a blog. In a blog people leave open messages that allow other users to interact with the original messages by responding to the original message or posting new messages. This is very similar to the above mentioned functions in the Study Group. Therefore, based upon my experience with Study Group function, blog can be usefully as an educational tool. This tool could be used to continue discussion started in class, or a place for students to conduct group work, while providing a log for the teacher to determine student's participation grade. Essentially, all the different task that our UMUC professors require us to do.
However, the biggest drawback with use of technology for me, is that not all my students have easy and reliable access to internet. Many times, my students rely upon going to the school library's or public library to complete one or two big projects. Though this issue has been dealt with through the introducation of cheaper and more advance PDA/cell phones with internet capabilities. However, to require students to daily or weekly use blogs for educational purposes will always leave a few students out.
Peter
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