For this posting, I did a Google search and found more than 15 million results on the topic of “educational uses of blogs,” but I limited my reading to the first 120 items. Most of the information was old–the only posting from 2008 was by a classmate! Although it looks like I took the easy way out by copying the first article on the Results list, I really did read the descriptions for all 120 items and then chose 12 to study in detail.
The first listing was my favorite because it was brief and clear, it gave a detailed bullet list of ways to use blogs in education, and it mentioned creating a shared blog to complete a WebQuest. The WebQuest idea would appeal to everyone in my area and would be fun for me to set up for learning. Here’s the link:
http://www.pembinatrails.ca/program/technology/uses_of_blogs_in_education.htm
Be sure to skip to the second page of the article to see the bullet list. The first page of the article quotes Stephen Downes quoting Henry Farrell on “Five major uses for blogs in education,” but the really novel ideas have been extracted from ADE Bloggers. The ADE list contains 44 ideas, and the WebQuest suggestion is number 44.
Marfow's Weblog 
September 11, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Thanks for the link. I think that bulleted list will be a great resource for the teachers in my “Teaching with Technology” class.
September 12, 2008 at 4:31 pm
That was a great article…thank you! I’m teaching a religion class at BYU and as I read through the suggestions, I thought about an assignment I’ve given to my class–they are to turn in a one page “insight” paper each week, about insights they gained from the scriptures. This past week, when students turned in the papers, I gave them 3 minutes to read a partner’s paper. That was nice, but I really I could have had them post the assignment to a blog. That would have had the following advantages:
1. They could more easily share what they read with friends/family.
2. We wouldn’t have had to use class time to read/comment on others’ blogs…it could have been done online. Some students might have (of their own volition) read entries from many of their peers.
3. Random people throughout the world could have stumbled on those blogs and been blessed.
4. Other advantages ???
Hmm…I’ll have to think more about that.
September 13, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Interesting comment about the article quoting Downes quoting Farrell, and that the best ideas were taken from elsewhere… Does blogging make it easier to stand on the shoulders of giants? Or at least to stand on the shoulders of peers?
September 15, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Great comments! Thanks for extending the ideas in the article and for giving information on practical applications and spiritual benefits.