The Audience seems to be the Motivator

Wow, I must admit that I did not know anything about blogs before I began this course. I had never heard of a ’blog’. So, although this course has just begun, I have already learned something new! In the last couple of days I have been surfing to find out more information (starting with the basic concept of ‘What a blog is’) and I am amazed at how ‘in the dark’ I have been, (but it appears I am not entirely alone). In talking to several colleagues there are others who are unaware of this technology too.
In my attempt to expand my awareness of blogs and how I can utilize this technology in the classroom, I found one site that was both interesting and helpful. It was http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2003/02/blogs.php. It contains an article written by Kristen Kennedy about Writing with Web Logs. In it she explains that “Web publication gives students a real audience to write to and, when optimized, a collaborative environment where they can give and receive feedback, mirroring the way professional writers use a workshop environment to hone their craft.’ She goes on to say that by doing this we ‘enhance writing and literacy skills while offering a uniquely stylized form of expression.’
My students have used computer programs to publish their writing before, but I think that the concept to creating a blog would generate more enthusiasm for students. As Kristen Kennedy says, this ‘uniquely stylized form of expression’ would be the motivation for witing for my students. There audience is usually limited to me, the teacher. I believe their excitement about having a wider audience would increase their writing efforts. At another interesting site, http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0450.asp?bhcp=1, a fifth grader, Dominic Oullet-Tremblay, confirms this by saying, "The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and motivate us to write more. When we publish on our blog, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link.” This seems to be the concensus, not only from students, but also from educators (as pointed out by Jeremy from the article he found that stated, "Although blogging in schools is still in its infancy, anecdotal evidence suggests that students' interest in, and quantity of, writing increases when their work is published online and -- perhaps even more importantly -- when it is subject to reader comments.”