Most of us who blog do it for various reasons, the most common of which are for the pure joy of writing or to perhaps make some money from your blog. There are tons of different uses for blogging, and I’m here going to explore one that is all-too often overlooked—using blogging as a teaching tool. Of course, for those of you who are teachers, like I once was, teaching through blogging is especially important. But if you are any sort of professional, blogging can be helpful to train new employees you may manage, to teach others in a collaborative environment any sort of job skill, or to merely teach yourself something new. Here are some things to consider:
Tips To Use Blogging As A Teaching Tool
1) Set up a collaborative blog with others whom you wish to teach or learn with.
Collaborative learning is perhaps one of the most effective ways to learn any new skill or concept. And there’s nothing more collaborative then setting up a blog with a like-minded learners. If you are a teacher, you can set up a class blog that discusses each new lesson you learn. If you are the manager of a company, have your team contribute to the blog by writing industry articles of interest that covers new ground that other employees don’t yet know.
2) Have each blog “member” contribute something new that no one in the community knows about yet.
The most important thing to remember in a collaborative learning environment is that participation from all learning members is the key. If you teach a class, require that each student contribute one blog post per week. If you are the head of an informal club that has congregating to learn new skills, make sure that you require regular contributions as the price of membership. If you are a supervisor for a team at your job, you can include writing blog posts as part of their job duties, which promotes continued education and training.
3) Share your blog on different and relevant social media channels to invite further discussion.
The depth of learning is often increased when many different viewpoints are brought to the table. Once you put your “learning” blog out there, say on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll invite further discussion so that your collaborative learning group can engage with others and share their opinions. For example, say you teach a class on ethics. Share your class blog with other ethics teachers and professors, and have them bring in their viewpoints. Request guest posts from different experts to bring in even more different arguments and ideas.
Of course, these are just a few ideas for using blogging as an effective teaching or training tool. The most important thing to remember is that blogging should be fun, so that learning continues being a fun process. Even if you don’t think you can use blogging as learning tool, just try out it! You’ll be amazed by the results!
By Guest Author –Katheryn Rivas is freelance writer and blogger who dedicates her time to discovering the latest online education trends. When she’s not writing, she can be found playing softball or reading a good book. She encourages your comments at katherynrivas87@gmail.com.
