Throughout the reading, "Educational Blogging," Downes made it clear that learning is no longer determined by textbooks and long lectures. Students of the 21st century are deemed literate through various means, technology of the utmost importance. "Educational Blogging," examines "the emergence of a learning community that goes beyond the school wall;" more specifically, it enters the personal sphere of communication via Internet. Blogging has become a resource of encouragement in the educational world - it is now another universe that students can enter to learn. As a high school English teacher, I find that blogging has provided teachers with another tool to reach students who are continually changing to find themselves in a world which continually changes. In conjunction with the CCSS, students must "learn to read, write, speak, listen, and use language effectively." Clearly, these are all utilized in the classroom, yet extending it to the Internet provides another push towards achieving effectiveness for students in another setting. In order to become successful, students must be able to take what they learn in the classroom and use it in the outside world. Why not practice that as much as possible before high school is over? Allow students another outlet to learn, encourage it. According to the CCSS, "to be a literate person in the 21st century...indeed the skills and understandings students are expected to demonstrate a wide applicability outside the classroom/workplace...texts that build knowledge, enlarge experience, and broaden worldviews." The beauty of blogging is that students can access texts, events, and ideas that come from more than the 20 other students in the classroom. In order to truly envelope worldwide learning, students must be able to access it; blogging allows it, the teacher must encourage it.
Much like another blogger said, students are able to become personally connected to events. They become apart of the event, rather than just an onlooker or listener. In cooperation with the core standards, students can reflect and respond using their own voices to the world, thus recognizing the importance of learning to read, write, speak, listen, and use language effectively. Most importantly, students become independent thinkers, while allowing others to see the intelligence that blooms not only in the classroom, but across the world. Students become an inspiration to other students, which in turn promotes not only the use of blogging, but the importance of learning to the world of 21st century learners.
