Pros and Cons of Educational Blogging

Does blogging have a place in the classroom? Like many things, blogging has pros and cons. Some cons include time consumption and inappropriate usage by students. In order to properly use a blog site for the classroom, the teacher will have to devote quite a bit of time so that the site stays up to date with the class and to moderate comments posted on the site. This leads into the inappropriate use of the blog site, for students, if not moderated, could use the site to just chat or other forms of communicating. However, these cons can be addressed. No matter what the upkeep of the site will take time from the teacher but this time can be distributed to the class. An example was shown in my Educational Technology class. For a calculus class, students were responsible for posting the notes of that day on the site. Of course, this requires responsible students, it serves as a way to cut down on the teacher's time. And probably any advent blogger knows that inappropriate language can be easily taken under control, setting up the blog to send comments to the author to view before posting. Furthermore, the teacher can direct the students into the proper usage of the blog site, stating that non-class communication is not allowed.
The pros for blogging is vast and many. As stated, a blog can be used to post notes of that day's class. In doing this, students who missed that day(s) can simply go to the blog and catch up on the notes. Also, if any student missed a whole section of notes, he/she can again just check the site. Blogging can also be used if students have questions. The can post their questions on the blog for either the teacher or the other classmates to answer. The teacher can use a blog to post links to help in a research paper or a class webquest.
Overall, if a teacher is willing to take some time to make a blog, the upkeep and usage of it is rather easy and can be of great use in the classroom.