Weblogs in Education

Tan, Y.H., Ow, E.G.J., & Ho, P.Y.J. (2005). Weblogs in education (a literature review)

Authors gave an introduction and a definition of a weblog as an essentially a web page ‘logging’ hyperlinks to websites which a web surfer finds interesting. They also described the blog as a website that frequently updated with a high availability of band width and storage space so we can store personal editorship, hyperlink, video and audio clips and comment features. They also described how it’s easy to create a blog and how the blog archive the posts automatically and show the latest post without user intervention. In the field of education, the authors illustrated of blogs as a learning tool and mediation by language; comments enable students to communicate and socialize which will enhance learning in a collaborative environment. Authors offered points to facilitate planning for the use of edublogs such as how to create a reflective journal, start a class blog, have the students create their own blogs and have the class share weblogs. Authors stated some issues of concerns for teaching and learning like students access to computers that are capable of inputting and displaying Chinese and Tamil characters, scaffolding of learning tasks plagiarism and legal liability. As foreign language teacher, I fully understood the benefit of blogs as an effective tool of learning, In DLI, we don’t have blogs yet but we are using the shared folders to facilitate the learning process especially in following up homework and provide materials. I think using blogs in teaching language is a developed way of learning, for language is learned by communication so students can communicate with native speakers and immerse in target language environment especially when they communicate with blogs that made to show social environment