I've been interested in blogging and identity for some time now. However, last week's video on technology in classrooms made me think about how blogging lends itself to educational purposes. There has been a lot of talk about using blogs in the classroom because of the "personal diary" format that allows you to process your reactions to a subject and spit out a more coherent, finished form of your thought process. I am interested in the findings of studies in this area. Specifically, some of my questions are:
1. Are blogs a better way to get students to express themselves? If yes (or no), why?
2. What are the effects of the observer (in this context, the teacher) on students really being able to express themselves? Are these effects measurable and significant?
3. What are some of the lessons that past experience with using blogs in the education environment have taught us, guidelines etc.
I'm not sure if this is an appropriate topic for a final paper so I would really appreciate some feedback!
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I think this idea is fine to go with. One question I have is, what do you mean by "express themselves?" Are you talking more about writing process, or affective aspects of writing?
There has been some research and writing on blogging as a tool for education, and much of it has focused on the two areas that you mention: motivation and audience. But if you can't find too much specifically on blogging, you could also look a little broader in the writing literature for findings on motivation and audience.
Your third point could form the basis for the discussion section of the review, but it is in some ways a little different than your first two questions. In other words, do you want to review the literature using the lens of writing (motivation, audience, etc), or do you want to review the literature on blogging in the classroom more broadly, in which case you would naturally pull out themes relating to best practices for classroom blogging? Either would form the basis for a fine review, I think you just want to pick a direction at this point and run with it. :)
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