I realized by visiting www.blogger.com that I had an existing blog from about five years ago. As part of one of my prerequisites for my teaching credential program, I took a course where we were required to set up and blog to share with our classmates. It was neat to see and review the posts I had created several years ago. Some of the topics I blogged about were interactive classrooms and ELL students. I definitely believe that a blog can be a great platform for creating a hands-on learning activity. I believe that a blog can be an effective learning tool in creating space for students to "convene" and share ideas outside of the four walls of their classroom. At my school several of the upper-grade classes have a classroom blog. Through the classroom blog teachers and students can post in a place where they feel safe and comfortable to share information and their views on a specific area of the curriculum they may be focusing on at the time. Students and teachers are able to comment on the posts, helping to further student learning beyond the classroom.
A con of blogging could be that they can require maintenance and a lot of up keep in order to keep them organized, up to date, and active. Without putting in time and blogging and posting on a regular basis, then the blog will not be as effective as it could be. Also, technology is ever changing, so just when you feel comfortable with blogging or a certain format that you may be using, you may have to be ready to adapt and make changes.
Pros of blogging include that you have a platform to instantly share information and views with others. Also, a pro of blogging is being able to reach a specific group of people. Like I mentioned, some teachers have set up blog specifically for their classrooms. Reaching a specific group of people is a pro because as the teacher or student posting, you are aware of exactly who your audience is. It also allows people to feel safe and comfortable, which makes them more likely to take risks with their learning.
