Blogging would be another creative way of writing down ideas for art projects for high school students,if there were some direction or focus for the students to effectively use it. Only if the art class had enough computers in the classroom for everyone to use at the same time.

I never realized that there was such a variety of blogs. I knew blogging was popular and growing but I was unaware of how much. I could see use for this in education as well as in Corporate America. If workers blogged during their work hours, some texture of their day and skills they use would be apparent. The blogs would help transfer knowledge to new workers and coworkers about discoveries they might make in performing their work.

I did not realize how popular blogging was. It has definitely become a popular form of expressing oneself with the possibility of many positive outcomes. I think blogging has the potential to serve very useful within a clssroom. It's a great way for the students to express themselves in a non-threatening way. It would also be very beneficial to those students who are shy or who find the typical form of writing boring.

As a teacher and web developer, I am most interested in blogging for schools. It is an excellent medium for expression and response.
I have developed http://www.blogs4schools.net/ with a slant on giving a school more control over what can be done rather than the big providers.
I am looking to set up one or two schools with their own site for free to test it out.
Are there any web savvy teachers/schools out there?
Cheers, Jack

I was actually afraid of the word 'blog' a year ago, because I thought it was complicated. Then I was introduced to blogging at part of the EDTECH curriculum in a couple of courses. It mostly reminds me of the old BBS days... anyway, blogs can be a positive or negative thing. Positive: encourages people to read, write, and express opinions; great for an educational setting; it gets your name in a Google search. Negative: Rumors and inaccurate information can be spread much much faster (remember the last election!) - also - teens are finding themselves in hot water as they sometimes reveal too much on "myspace.com", where they forget everyone can see everything.

Blogging interest me from an educational/technology standpoint. How can technology be used in conjunction with blogging capabilities to provide "real-time" knowledge exchange? As an online instructor for several colleges I have the ability to conduct synchronous discussions but despite the utility of such a tool I often find that those "ah-hah!" moments don't often occur during our class discussions. Perhaps blogging in conjunction with PDA type hardware may help fill such a void. It will be interesting to see how colleges and universities implement these tools into their curriculums in the years to come?

Blogging...I love the concept. I think in a controlled environment students can have at their fingertips a great tool for expressing themselves and sharing it with other. As more and more people are reluctant to write, it seems a great way to encourage students to share information in a cool fun way.

My concerns are the informality that is associated with computer blogs. People tend to be sloppy about capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. It seems a great way to be informal, but I am not sure it is a substitute for formal writing.

I agree with Barbara and her comments about "Myspace.com," which I find a fascinating look into the world of today's teenagers. I have read many Myspace submissions, and always amazed that the kids seem to put things on there that are quite private. I guess they don't realize that some parents are computer savvy.

As with anything, there are positives and negatives. I think blogs will definitely be used more often and more frequently as sites become available, and teachers find constructive ways to encourage students to write.

I have just recently learned about blogging through an assignment I am working on for one of my Master's courses. I find the concept of using blogs in the classroom very intriguing and I'd like to implement them in my own classroom either this year or next year (depending on how quickly I become comfortable with them).