There has recently been a lively discussion on the CITASA (Communication and Information Technology section of the American Sociological Association) listserv about using blogs for teaching college-level sociology. The discussion contained a lot of practical advice as well as pedagogical insight. I started a summary of the conversation and asked those who had been a part of it to collaborate on the summary via google docs. Below is a snippet of what we came up with and a link to the whole document, which includes drawbacks, tips, and links to further information.

Why Use Blogs in the Classroom?
– Blogs empower students to take ownership over course material and find their own voice as they express key concepts and ideas
– Blogging, like ethnography, is an opportunity for students to practice the skill of communicating in public.
– Blogs are of increasing significance in the production and dissemination of information and all students can benefit from gaining literacy in the use and creation of blogs
– Creating public content can help students think more critically about how information is produced and disseminated and what qualifies as a reliable source
– Creating public content can help students who are good at critique become better at constructive practice

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If you want to be added to the ongoing conversation, email me at sargent at virginia dot edu and I’ll add you as a collaborator.