My Freshman English Experience

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Weblogs: What's The Use?

 

When first I heard of weblogs it was day one of my freshman English, and my first class as an official college student. When my teacher said that in the class we would be concentrating on the weblog there were numerous thoughts running through my head. My first thought was What have I gotten myself into? You mean I have to write my opinions on the Internet? This blog thing is popular? All of these things crossed my mind. I was very skeptical of how weblogs could be used in a classroom. Now that I have been exposed to many different weblogs and I know what they are about some of my ideas have changed. I now believe students in junior and senior high school would benefit greatly from creating their own weblogs. Their weblogs could be used to help them brainstorm ideas for their class assignments, it may help them to clarify class material, it will increase their confidence in their writing and they will be able to collaborate their ideas.

            You may be wondering, just like I was the first day, what a blog is. Leslie Walker puts it this way Blog is slang for a Web log, an online personal journal that comes in many flavors (1). She is absolutely correct; a weblog is like a diary on the Internet. Their authors write about anything; what they ate during the day, something they saw that had an impact on them or just something they thought of during the day. The readers of these blogs get to know the blogger and get to see their personality. The only difference between a blog and a diary is the order in which the entries are placed. In a diary you read from the first entries to the last entries whereas a blog goes from the most recent entries to the past entries.

            There is another type of weblog called a filter blog. The filter blog according to Rebecca Blood, Reveals glimpses of an unimagined web to those who have no time to surf (4)., by this she means that in this kind of blog the author reads through material they find on the internet and they comment on it in their blogs. They also give links to the reader for where they found the information that is in their weblog. The readers of these weblogs learn about the authors likes and dislikes and about their biases. These are the two main types of weblogs found on the Internet, and a basic overview of what a weblog is.

            About my question, in the beginning of how a blog could be used in the classroom, well I soon found weblogs were a useful tool for brainstorming ideas. When I would read another persons blog I was able to see what their thoughts were and from their ideas I was able to realize some of my own thoughts and feelings. For example Melvin Levinsons states in his article Needed: A New Literacy:

Robert J. Wolff cites the tendency of liberal-arts students, in a basic design course, to seek rules and regulationsquotations, as it were, from Renoir or Picasso. Instead, they have to learn that their decisions in art are a matter of personal discipline and judgment. For many, this is the first breakaway from their inbred dependence on authority. (5)

 

After reading his article I realized, even though some of his ideas were a bit extreme, I agreed with his idea that as students get older they aren't encouraged to use there imaginations and when they are asked to its hard for them. I didnt realize I had the same feelings as he did until he brought it up and I thought about it. It is the articles and blog entries that make people brainstorm about their own ideas and think of things they would have never have imagined before. In my opinion, I think it would be helpful for students of all ages to try weblogging or at least read weblogs so they could get some of the same brainstorming benefits. In addition to helping students brainstorm I believe weblogging helped me understand what was covered in my English class. I was able to read my classmates blogs and discover how they interpreted what we read which helped me comprehend some of the things the bloggers were trying to say. This would be very helpful to any class with reading assignments. Students would be able to look at their peers' weblogs and from them they might be able to better understand what they read themselves. If this type of learning had been applied in some of my high school classes I think I would have gotten more from them and it may have made them more interesting and enjoyable.

            Collaboration of ideas would certainly occur if weblogs were used in the classroom. This would be especially useful in classes that do a lot of group work. For instance, my math class has group projects we do on a regular basis. If the students in my class were to use weblogs to do some of the work I think it would limit some of the stress of finding times to meet with group members and it would allow the class to view some of the others ideas of the class work. This idea would work even better if it could be guaranteed that each student would do the work and then compare their work with the others so each person was contributing, and not copying someone else. This would be the only drawback to collaborating ideas on a weblog.

            The thought of writing about yourself on the internet has been a concern lately, especially when it comes to younger kids using the internet. This is a valid concern especially when bloggers can go into detail about there personal lives. With many first time bloggers, including myself, they are concerned about the public nature of weblogging and who might read about them.  This inhibits some writers because they may not want to share all of their opinions because of the fear of publicity. Some of them may just be self conscious of their writing or others may be concerned about strangers reading there personal thoughts and details about their personal lives. For me it helped to know that the people reading my blog were complete strangers. This may sound kind of strange, but I think of it this way; when I was in high school and had to share with the class something I wrote or thought I would have to come back to that class the next day and face all of them and possibly be ridiculed for what I wrote or said. When you write on a blog the people reading your blog are most likely people you dont know and people you will never meet so they wont be able to ridicule you other than by posting something on their blog or sending you something. For some reason I think this is easier to handle then face to face criticism.

              Since weblogging is such a craze and its so popular I think the appeal of blogging as an assignment would be very high. I feel this is particularly true for younger students because it is totally different from anything they have done in previous classes. For one they are asked to use a computer and the internet. Both of which are usually used for research assignments which are rarely appealing to younger students. If students were asked to create a blog I think they would be more willing to try harder because it is new to them and they are using a computer which is something students most likely use at least once a day so it may not seem to be such a hassle  as journaling would be.

            Motivation to read others weblogs is also a concern. I felt motivated to read blogs after starting my own because I was curious to see what others wrote about and what they thought of some of the same articles I had read. I also think because there is such a vast assortment of blogs on the Internet students would be motivated to find and read a blog about something they liked as well.

            This brings up the question about which type of blog is appropriate for students. For younger students I feel it would be more suitable to use a filter blog because then they would be commenting on articles they find on the internet which would go along with junior or senior high school curriculum. At the same time they should be allowed to use some of their own experiences in their blogs because it will show their personality, but for blogs to be useful in a high school setting I think they would have to be based on some subject other then what goes on in the students life. As for college students I think either type would be appropriate. In college you are asked to use your imagination much more than you do in high school and if students used a journal blog then I believe they would realize things about themselves they didnt know and it would help them to become more creative.

            Blogging is a definite confidence booster. When someone writes on the internet and gets a positive response from someone they are reassured that their writing is something they can be proud of and they are less concerned with the publics reaction to what they wrote about. The first time I got an e-prop I was reassured that the things I wrote werent totally useless to read and I was reassured that my writing wasnt as bad as I may have thought it was. This would be of great use to younger students who are insecure with their writing. If teachers were to interact with students through weblogs and e-props students would definitely have more confidence in their writing and they would probably enjoy writing much more. If students were asked to use a weblog instead of conventional methods they may also write more if they enjoy the whole aspect of writing on a weblog. Weblogging is a brand new idea, at least to many and something students of all ages may find more intriguing than conventional methods of journaling.

            In my opinion weblogs are very useful in my English class. Im able to read articles and comment on them, Im able to see my classmates comments on the same articles and Im able to interact with my peers and my teacher. If weblogs were introduced in more classrooms I think more students may come to enjoy writing and not dread it like many do. In Jo Ann Oravecs opinion Weblog development can empower students to become more analytical and critical; through actively responding to Internet materials, students can define their positions in the context of others writings as well as outline their own perspectives on particular issues (3).

            Not only can weblogs be used in an English class, but in many other classes.  One simple use for the weblog would be to use it to post announcements for a class so students would be able to read about upcoming events and assignments.  It would also be useful for students to react to things that they read or experienced in class so other students are able to see what they think and to comprehend something that wasnt exactly clear to them.

            Weblogs would also be a useful tool for businesses. For instance if a brand new business was trying to become more known by the public they could use a weblog to post upcoming events or announcements to promote their business. Cameron Barrett also suggests some uses for the weblog:

Wouldn't is be great if all the neurosurgeons in the world had one place to go to for up-to-date information about the numerous changes in their field? (this could be a subscription-only site!) Or what about government-centric weblogs? (3).

 

These are all great ways the businesses, groups of people with the same interests or jobs, or organizations could use weblogs to their benefit.

            In conclusion I believe that weblogs are valuable tools for education. Students are able to brainstorm some of their own ideas and thoughts by reading other blogs and articles from the internet. They also help to boost a writers confidence by showing them their writing is worth while and it is being read by people on the internet. I also believe that if students were asked to create a blog they would be more motivated to do this rather than using conventional journaling methods because it is new to many students and it is using technology that is widely used by their generation. Students, including myself, would be motivated to read others weblogs because they may become curious as to what others write about and they may want to find out what someone else thinks of the same articles they may have read. Besides being useful in education, weblogs would be a great benefit to businesses trying to promote themselves, for organizations to post announcements or for doctors to post their findings. The possibilities for the uses of weblogs are endless and I think over time weblogs will be used for more than just journals or filtering Internet material. When they will finally be used for more then that I think people will realize the value of weblogs and begin to use them for more then journals and filtering.

 


Works Cited

Barrett, Cameron. More About WebLogs. Camworld. (11 May 1999). 29 August 2002. http://www.camworld.com/journal/rants/99/05/11.html  1-4.

Blood, Rebecca. Weblogs: A History and Perspective. Rebeccas Pocket. (7 September 2000). 27 August 2002.  http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html 1-7.

Levinson, Melvin E. Needed: A New Literacy. Ebscohost Database. (May/June 94).

27 August 2002. http://web11.epnet.com/citation 1-6.

Oravec, Jo Ann.  Bookmarking the world: weblog applications in education. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.  (April 2002). 9 September 2002. http://web6.infotrac.galegroup.com  1-6.

Walker, Leslie. A Day-by-Day In the Life. Washington Post. (17 May 2001). 29 August 2002.

            http://www.washingtonpost.com 1-3.