Using Blogs as an Educational Tool

A few days ago, I talked to a former colleague who is currently enrolled in a doctorate program. She told me as part of her requirements, that she would  have to maintain a blog. This propelled me back to when I was teaching and I made my undergrad students maintain blogs.

Before one makes their students create a blog for educational purposes, there are some things that need to be addressed:

1. What is the purpose of the blog? Is it to chronicle a process, to record information or for research?

2. What happens to the information after the fact? Is it going to be turned into a paper, dissertation, and/or book?

3. Who “owns” the information? Is it the college’s or the student’s?

Pondering these questions, one can have a clear vision of what and how to proceed with their education based blog.