Die New York Times veröffentlichte letzte Woche einen Artikel über die Verwendung von Weblogs in US-Schulen: “In the classroom, Web Logs Are the New Bulletin Boards”

Nach einem Ausflug in ein Indianerreservat:

[Instead] of leading a discussion about the trip, Mrs. Dudiak had the students sign on to their classroom Web log.

There they wrote about learning to use a bow and arrow, sitting inside a tepee and petting a buffalo. The short entries were typical of second-grade writing, with misspelled words and simple sentences. Still, for Mrs. Dudiak, the exercise proved more fruitful than a group discussion or a handwritten entry in a personal journal.

“It allowed them to interact with their peers more quickly than a journal,” she said, “and it evened the playing field.” Mrs. Dudiak said she found that those who were quiet in class usually came alive online.

[…] For teachers, blogs are attractive because they require little effort to maintain, unlike more elaborate classroom Web sites, which were once heralded as a boon for teaching.

[…While] a question could have just as easily been posed during a classroom conversation, teachers who use blogs say that students put a lot more thought and effort into their blog writing, knowing that parents and others may read their work on the Web.

[… According] to the time stamps on classroom blogs, they are most heavily used during the school day. Few entries seem to come after school hours, and some teachers who have tried to keep their blogs going during the summer say they have been disappointed by the results.

[…] “Blogging is a different form of writing,” Mrs. Dudiak said. “They should proofread, but we are more concerned about the content, not grammar.”

(Link via Weblog Tools Collection)