Visions of Blog Use

Having just listened to an EdTech Talk podcast featuring Jan Smith discussing blog failures and successes inside and outside of her classroom, I am brimming with ideas of how blogs can be integrated into learning. What most interested me in hearing Jan talk about blogs was the way she established partnerships with other blogging communities throughout the world in order to enhance the blogging experience of students. The worldwide accessibility of blogs is an aspect of blogging that really draws me to it. Particularly for US History or Current Event courses, I could see blogs being used as a means of promoting and achieving the global perspective theorists of the social studies are always talking about. How fascinating it would be for students and teachers to participate in a dialogue (via blogging) in which national and international viewpoints were shared. Of course, something like this could also segue into the usage of Skype and other tools.