First time impressions of blogging – Formulating the Pros and Cons of blogging in the classroom for students and teachers

I find blogging to be a unique way of integrating the technology of today with the education curriculum and learning. Not only is blogging a great way to increase web awareness for students, and teachers, but blogging can be a beneficial administrative tool or a resource for research as well. I see blogging as a great way to share information, advice and knowledge in all different areas of teaching with other teachers or student teachers, such as tips on classroom management or creative lesson plans that can be applied in the classroom since blogs can be used as personal journals with teaching experiences. Blogging can also create discussion forums between both students and teachers to share assignments or curriculum, as blogs can provide news on particular subjects or classroom topics. Blogs are innovative ways for students to complete homework or publically share ideas with other classmates. Although, there are many advantageous for blogging as mentioned, it is important to be aware that blogging does contain disadvantages. One key disadvantage is that since blog posts are made public to everyone who may have access to the internet, it is very important for both teachers, educators and students to be conscientious of what they post to ensure a high standard of professionalism and security. Inappropriate or non-professional information may negatively reflect back on the individual and it is especially the responsibility of the teacher to be a good role model for others to follow. Also, those who don’t have a computer or connection to the internet are unable to have access to blogging, which poses some problems in the classroom.