"Research: Blogging in Education"

    There are many ways to use blogging in a classroom.  Many of these ways are new to me and when I read about them it was like a light bulb going off in my head.  I could have used blogging for so many things in my teaching experiences in Korea.  Things like classroom management and maintaining student portfolios are two of the most significant ways I see blogging being helpful in the classroom.
    Using a blog is not only helpful for students, but it is also helpful for the parents.  The blog will keep parents up to date on what is happening in the classroom.  Parents will be able to find out what their students' are currently studying, what assignments the students should be working on and when they need to be finished.  With the blog, a teacher will never have to hear the excuse, "I didn't know that was due," or, "You never told us we had to do that."
    The blog will also help show the students and parents what kind of progress the student has made through the year.  There is no better way than being able to look at the math or writing the student was doing at the beginning of the school year and seeing the progress that student has made by seeing their work they have completed at the end of the year.  The work the students keep online is much easier to keep organized than keeping a file in a cabinet on every student.  This is, after all, the age where more and more things are becoming digitized.  Blogs make it easy for students to have a portfolio of all of their academic work through their life.