Blogs Encourage Critical Thinking

Diane Penrod tells us in her book, Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy, that blogs encourage critical thinking by student authors. I have seen proof of this in the classroom. While a blog was not the medium used, I have seen students have to create and then respond to the writings of other students. They did an excellent job forcing the issues and not simply accepting what they were reading. The problem...the task took forever! Having students hand write documents can be a lengthy process. It's an important process, but lengthy nonetheless. Using a blog for this type of activity could greatly speed up the activity. Students don't have to try to decipher the writing of their classmates which allows them to focus on the content.

Another benefit of blogging is the quick response. Students can receive the feedback/criticism immediately, keeping the ideas fresh in their heads! More importantly, they know feedback is coming, so they take the time to write intelligent, well thought, posts. The dialogue that is created can lead to an expansion of "their knowledge and background on various academic subjects" (Penrod, p. 24).