Got a chance to give two one-hour presentations about Weblogs at the New Jersey Writing Alliance Conference which, unfortunately, was lightly attended due to the freak snowstorm we had. It was the first

“Blogging allows students to write about real topics that they have a real interest in.
”

time that I had talked about the idea of blogging as genre, and I think for the most part those in attendance understood the potential and were interested in using Weblogs themselves. The highlights:

  • Blogging facilitates what Donald Murray refers to as the writer’s conversation with the reader as he writes. The immediate audience that Weblogs provide necessitates that conversation, and I have to say that if I’ve seen one area where student writing has been effected it’s in this area.
  • Blogging allows students to write about real topics that they have a real interest in.
  • The blogging process teaches an important writing skill that asks students to find and read material relevant to their lives, capture, credit, and synthesize it in writing, publish it to allow others to comment, and then read some more.

    I quoted from Kaye’s article last month in THE Journal where she talks about the benefits of student blogging, specifically that:

  • The use of blogs helps students become subject matter experts.
  • The use of blogs increases student interest and ownership in learning.
  • The use of blogs gives students legitimate chances to participate.
  • The use of blogs provides opportunities for diverse perspectives,
    both within and outside of the classroom.

    We did talk at some length about the differences for K-12 teachers in the limits they have to impose on students that college professors really don’t need to. But most seemed more interesed in blog the noun than blog the verb, and that’s okay too.

    Interestingly, one of the keynote speakers touched on blogs, calling them a tool for ECAC - Electronic Composition Across the Curriculum. I’m not sure, to be honest, that she really understood what Weblogs were all about, but I think it was good that she recognized the potential (and the movement) enough to point it out.