Nowadays,
reading and writing texts online are basic skills that students need to understand
as the global community. There are many strategies that teachers can do to
engage students’ activities. One of the strategies is by using blogs. Blogs is
a tool that makes both teacher and students easy to publish a writing. It
provides the opportunity for students and teachers to publish and to share their
writing easily. Besides, each of them can give their feedback by giving
comments in minutes. It is so useful for students because they can also get
comments from an authentic audience.
In blogs, students can write
entries and comment on the entries of their peers. Students can also post their
journal or diary entries, reflections of the learning activities, their
projects in the classroom, commentary on classroom’s recent activities or
readings and drafts for other writing that they are doing. Once a student posts
an entry, others in the class can respond, provide supportive feedback, and
offer additional suggestions or perspectives. By writing and commenting on
blogs, students write for real readers. As a result, students focus on clear
communication and get immediate feedback on whether they communicate
effectively.
Here are some steps that
teachers can do when they want to use blogs in the learning activities.
1. Create
their own blog
It means,
teacher should create their own blog for students practice. In their blog,
teachers can provide links for further reading. With creating a blog, teacher
gives class information and links for self-study.
2. Ask
students’ to create their own blog
Students also
need to have their own blog for writing practice and reflection on class
activities. Students’ blog can also be used as a forum for exchanging ideas on
a class-based project.
