Research Article Number One: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom

For this week's blog, I will sum up an article I read entitled "The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom" by David Huffaker. I was so happy to come across this article. The topic was almost too perfect!

The article started off by explaining a blog and the features of one. Huffaker then provided some statistics about the average age of most bloggers. I was surprised to find the average ages a lot younger than what I thought. In the first example, 51.5% of bloggers were between 13 and 19. Another statistic showed that 40.4% of bloggers are under the age of 20. Similarly, in the last example the largest distribution of blog users were under the age of 20 as well. I always thought most bloggers would be in their mid twenties.

From there, the author states the follwing as his hypothesis.

"This article hypothesizes that blogs can be an important addition to educational technology initiatives because they promote literacy through storytelling, allow collaborative learning, provide anytime-anywhere access, and remain fungible across academic disciplines. (Huffaker, 2005) "

Huffakerliertacy, but also prepares children for the technology driven world. He proceeds to discuss how blogs offer a best of both worlds situation. It not only has the children immersed in writing but also reading, and children do not need to have exceptional technical skills. It doesn't take much to be able to create a blog.

The author is a big believer in the impact of storytelling on children's literacy development. He explains that storytelling helps children's reading and writing skills grow, and that it does not stop during childhood. Adolescents and adults tell stories to make sense of the world, communicate feelings, develop relationships, use their imagination, and in a variety of other ways. He believes that the integration of storytelling in the classroom is something that teachers should really consider and what a better way to do this than to have students create a blog.

Huffaker begins to state all of the advantages of using weblogs in the classroom. The following is a list of the advantages he talks about.

encourages creativity

equitable for many age groups and genders

easy to implement

access anywhere with internet connection

both individualistic and collaborative

promote self expression

students can comment and give feedback to one another

multidisciplinary

These are just a few of the advantages that he listed. Huffaker then gave examples of some ways that blogs are used. The examples given were very similar to the ones we have discussed in class. The article did mention a specific blog that allowed for new teachers and mentors to share concerns and provide guidance. I thought that was a neat idea.

Huffaker sums up the article by again stating the importance of storytelling in literacy. He believes that blogs are an excellent way to foster this skill development. According to the research cited in this article, the amount of bloggers is only going to increase and Huffaker feels as though teachers need to realize this growth and harness learning through this new technology.

I think Huffaker has some really good points in his article. I found myself agreeing a lot with the information he present. However, I do believe that blogs have so much more to offer than what he listed. My classmates and I have discussed several ways in which blogs can be used. I do believe that storytelling is an important skill to foster and blogging could be an excellent way to do so, but I also believe there is so much more than can be done with a blog.

Huffaker, D. (2005). The educated blogger: Using weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom.

AACE Journal, 13(2), 91-98.