Downes, Stephen. (2004). Educational Blogging. Educause Review, 39(5), 14-26.

Summary
This article tackles the question of blogs in education. Do blogs have a place in educational settings? Can they reach students in a way that other writing can't? If so, how can we use blogging without losing its authenticity or freedom? After giving some examples of how different schools are using blogs or blogging software, the author delves into these issues. He starts with a brief history of the blog--what used to be mainly a list of websites updated by the blogger periodically, but which has merged with the online journal to become a little bit of both. Today's blogs, he points out, are defined more by the process or format rather than content. There are five potential uses of blogs in education discussed:
1. Teachers using blogs to replace class webpages
2. Instructors having a place to help students link Internet content that relates to their courses
3. Organizing class discussions that allow all students' voices equal weight
4. Providing summaries of class readings--a "group blog"
5. Students writing their own blogs as a part of their grade for the class
The attractiveness of using blogs comes, in part, from the fact that the are easy to use and pre-formatted, so even the least tech-savvy educators or students can feasibly create one. Most hosting services are also free, and schools can receive some of the installed applications for free if they prefer those.
These positives aside, the remainder of the article discussed the issues surrounding blogging. First, if a school provides a platform for student blogs, they must then be concerned about being held liable for what students choose to post. Although blogs break down barriers and allow students to communicate with an authentic audience, they are also accessible by that same, very public audience. A related issue is raised next: "What happens when a free-flowing medium such as blogging interacts with the more restrictive domains of the educational system?" (22). There seem to be two schools of thought on this--some believe that educational blogging is not 'true blogging'. Instead, it is simply using blogging software to respond to given prompts, and it becomes too contrived. One of the keys to blogging is the blogger reflecting on his/her thoughts as he/she writes, and this can only happen if he/she has an authentic interest in the topic--not necessarily true of assigned prompts. Others say that even if it is more contrived, blogging allows students to simply write, which in turn makes them better writers, and that it's the process of blogging that is important. In this view, blogs offer the "possibility of bringing life into learning" (26).

Response
I found this article extremely interesting--as an English teacher, it has crossed my mind that blogs are a form of writing that many of my students are very interested in, but we do not tap into in class. However, some of the same questions about using blogs that I've had were raised in this piece. I like the idea of free-flowing student reflection, but if I'm requiring it, it is by definition no longer 'free'--it's forced. So I lean more toward the class discussion use--I love the idea of online discussions, though even after reading the article, I'm not totally clear on how a blog would facilitate that. If I could figure it out, though, I think it would be great--there are so many kids who are intimidated by talking/participating in class, and talking online is definitely an equalizer. I could also see using blogs like we do in this class, as a way to post responses to reading...although I think that fits into the article's category of using blogging software to complete ordinary assignments rather than 'true blogging'. But does it matter? Probably not, if it's what you want to do with it. I guess that's what I take away from this article--that there are so many options to using blogs; whether or not it's right for a certain educational situation really depends on what you're looking for students to get out of it.