Using Blogs as Instructional and Assessment Tools
Compared to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, however, blogs have the advantage of enabling users to make posts without limit as to the length and nature of content. No wonder politicians, government institutions, religious groups, and even media pirates are taking advantage of this social media platform to advance their interests. They are aware of the power of this web tool especially in an age when access to the internet is increasingly becoming democratized in different parts of the globe.
Educators must keep themselves abreast of these developments. They, too, must take advantage of the benefits that may be derived from the use of blogs. Blogs, when properly used, may serve a variety of functions in the field of education. First, they could help students attain the different 21st century skills, e.g. information technology, communication, and learning skills. When students are taught how to make their own blogs, they acquire the skills with which they could participate in the production and sharing of information over the internet. They are also likely to develop their ability to communicate their ideas, not only through written language, but also by using various other media such as pictures, videos, etc. Finally, by using blogs, students tend to develop the skills involved in accessing, verifying, and synthesizing information from the internet, e.g. how to determine the reliability of sources and properly cite them using such citation standards as APA or MLA.
Blogs could also help teachers improve their assessment practices. When teachers require students to demonstrate acquisition of desired understandings and skills by creating their own blogs, they tend to rely less on traditional assessment tools that often fail to cover important facets of student learning, e.g. paper-and-pencil tests that merely require students to regurgitate facts. They would veer towards the use of assessment activities that are more authentic, and hence, more supportive of the development of the skills that students need in order to thrive in the 21st century world. For these activities to succeed, however, it is imperative that teachers involve the students in designing the materials whereby the performance or product of the latter would be assessed. For instance, prior to the assigning of the task, i.e. students’ creation of their own blogs, the teachers may guide the students in formulating the rubrics to be used in assessing their works by showing them exemplary blog posts made by other people.
Finally, teaching students how to blog could contribute towards the development of citizens who are capable of shaping public opinion, and influencing government policy formulations. Blogs, as well as the other social media networks, can serve as a means whereby citizens could register opposition towards misconduct of government officials, express dissent, and propose alternative solutions to national problems. This was demonstrated a couple of years ago in the United States when a proposed draconian law (i.e. SOPA) was shelved in the face of a massive rebellion waged by citizens on the internet. It was also demonstrated in our country a few years ago when the government was forced to reconsider the objectionable provisions of the controversial Cybercrime Prevention Act. In teaching students how to use the blogging platform, therefore, teachers would not only help students to improve their lives and those of their families, but help them to improve the quality of life of their fellow men as well. Ω
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