Hey Coach, 

I’ve seen so many teachers who have their students write their own blogs. Can blogging really benefit my students?

Sincerely,
Baffled Blogger

Dear Baffled Blogger,

You’re right - student blogging is a common sight in today’s classrooms, from our youngest learners to college students. This is largely because of the many benefits blogging offers to students! In recent years, a number of critical skills have been identified as we work to ensure college and career readiness. Such skills include the ability to communicate clearly, collaborate with others, information literacy, media literacy, and technology proficiency, just to name a few. Blogs are a versatile tool that enable students to build many of these essential skills.

Benefits of Blogging

One unique characteristic of blogs is that they connect students with a global audience. Our students seem to thrive on digital recognition, so blogging elevates their engagement as they see their ideas out in the world and impacting others. For many students, writing is difficult, but the idea that their writing will actually be read by someone outside the classroom adds authenticity and meaning to the experience. Students will be motivated to share their personal perspective and connect with the outside world more than they would by creating a written piece for an in-class assignment. (Looking for ways to connect your student bloggers with authentic audiences? Check out our Blogging in the Classroom infographic!) When teachers interweave blogging into their instruction, there is a domino effect that occurs:

Elevate student voice → Increased engagement and excitement → Improved writing outcomes

Digital Citizenship

This domino effect is very powerful, but there are even more benefits tied to student blogging. When blogging in the classroom, teachers have ample opportunities to model both important writing skills and critical digital citizenship skills. Through this medium, we can help students create a responsible digital footprint and practice good digital citizenship. As students connect through blogging, they also build valuable communication and collaboration skills. Blogs serve as the perfect foundation to teach students how to provide meaningful peer feedback in a digital space.

Digital Literacy

Blogs also afford opportunities to practice digital literacy. While digital literacy is an evolving term, it’s critical to remember that reading and writing are at the heart of it. As your students research and write for their own blog, their ability to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information through writing and other outlets in the digital world will improve. They gain the cognitive and technical skills needed to compose a piece because of their experience communicating their ideas in the digital world.

Cognitive Development

Students can become overwhelmed with the writing process. Brainstorming, drafting, and editing can overload students and impact their written expression skills. We use the phrase: writer’s block to describe the cognitive overload students experience (and teachers, too!). However, with blogging the scope of subject matter is narrowed. Students can hone in on a single idea, freeing up space for processing and planning their ideas. The extraneous cognitive load is reduced and students have space to figure out how to effectively express themselves.

Further Reading

Through this personal and student-centered format of writing, blogging bestows students the chance to connect, interact, and share ideas with other individuals around the globe - a priceless opportunity for writers of all ages. If you’re ready to get started with blogging in your classroom, consider Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano’s many valuable blogging resources, including her guide to Implementing Blogging in the Classroom, her series on Blogging for Your Students, and her Blogging Framework.

All the best,
Coach