Student Reflection

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Blogs in learning and teaching

While some people have described blogs, somewhat dismissively, as ‘internet graffitti’, there is a growing body of literature that discusses the use of blogs in education as learning and teaching tools. Writers such as Downes (2004), Trafford (2006), Williams and Jacobs (2004), Barton (2006) and Earle (2005) have researched, and published extensively on, the use of blogs in educational contexts, drawing attention to their role in:

• personal reflection
• encouraging the process of ideas development
• information sharing
• issuing news
• creating potential content that can be shared and is available for discussion
• recording events and capturing activity.

Some of the perceived strengths of blogs in an educational context are that they can promote:

• higher-order learning
• constructivist learning
• collaborative work.

Guidelines on the use of blogs in learning and teaching at NTU (PDF 44KB) gives an overview of blogging: the things to consider, be aware of and take into account when setting up and running a blog. It also has links to other useful resources.

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