Good question, and one I’m sure a lot of people will be asking. Well, there are a number of reasons. Nowadays kids are very computer savvy; chances are they already have a Facebook account, Instagram, Snapchat and countless others too. Most jump straight into this with little or no education or supervision, and we all know what are the consequences of the negative use of such communication tools. By blogging in this way, supervised by teachers and parents, the hope is that students will learn and develop a positive attitude to online communication tools, and practice and develop the types of skills, rules and etiquette necessary for their future. By developing good skills and habits here we can hope that these will transfer into their more private and personal communications.

Another reason for blogging is, simply, it’s here! Students are growing up in an environment where instant and electronic communication is just the way it is, it is how (as far as they’re concerned) it’s always been and always will be. This is the way our youth communicate, so we need to communicate their way, to use the tools that they understand as normal and essential in their everyday lives now and into the future. We use electronic communications for nearly everything: chatting, keeping in touch, finding information, shopping, sharing news about ourselves with friends and family, indeed it almost becomes impossible to live without a computer or mobile phone to see us through the day. In this way blogging, sharing our successes online and communicating electronically is the most natural way for education to remain relevant in the modern environment.

Following on from this, students no longer have to feel that their hard work and creativity is something only to be seen by themselves, their teacher, and perhaps their parents when the books go home at the end of the year. Now, through their blog, students can share their successes instantly, and friends, parents, even grandparents overseas can see what the students are doing. Not only that, but communicating with the students about their achievements helps develop a sense of pride in their work and a desire to produce their best efforts, especially as the world can now see it.

So, with these thoughts in mind, lets enjoy supporting our students as they learn and develop their skills with the tools necessary for life in our modern world. I know we will make mistakes, but that’s all part of the learning process and the fun of it all.

Chris Hope