The Importance of Creating And Using Blogs In The Classroom

As Dudeney and Hockly (2008) stated, blogs provide a 'real-world' tool for learners with which to practise their written English, as well as a way of contacting learners from other parts of the world if the blog is used as part of an international exchange.

A blog is publicly available on the Internet; in theory, anyone can read the blog (although only invited members can be given permission to add comments). For this reason, learners tend to want their written work in a blog to be as accurate as possible, and the teacher needs to be prepared to give learners plenty of time for writing, reviewing, redrafting and checking postings before they are added to the blog.

Advantages of blogs to teachers:

• Teachers can ask students to use it once a term to submit a paper, weekly for class assignments and notes, etc.
• It is simple to edit class material if the text can be improved or if something new needs to be added.
• Teachers can give collective feedback to the class when a recurring mistake is found.

Advantages of blogs to students:

• Students can read comments for the class as a whole and comments directed at them individually. This maximizes feedback and contact with the teacher.
• Students can observe how their writing has changed over time.
• They can easily look up words they do not understand by cutting the unknown word and pasting it into an online dictionary.