Blogging vs. Writing in the Classroom

Throughout this semester I have been writing a blog post every week. What I write about is up to me. I can write anything that relates to women. I can write about a TV show, an article, other people's blogs, and much more. Technology has played a huge role in this project. Without technology, blogging would not be possible. Blogging gives more freedom in the topics that students can write about. They can take anything from the Internet and insert it into their post. Blogging is a form of expression through opinions and views that you have, in this case, women.

In past writing classes I have had to write about many things. The forms of writing that I've done is weekly journals, essays, research papers, short responses and much more. I would be given a question that I would have to write about. Usually, I only had one option. What is so great about blogging is that I can write about anything I want. Whatever I write about will be sufficient enough. Also, in writing classes there is always a rubric and certain requirements that need to be met in the paper. For example, cite three sources or have an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. In the blog posts, the only requirement is that it has to be about women. The post could be a question that other people will answer, a paragraph, or a picture and a description.

What can blogs do that writing in a classroom can't? You can add pictures, links, songs, videos, etc. Anything you find on the Internet can be added to your blog within a second. You can find virtually anything on the Internet. Also, blogging allows you to change your font, color, and size of your writing. Blogs also don't end up looking like an essay. The format isn't so strict. In the classroom, there are always the same three requirements: 12 pt font, times new roman, and double spaced. Teachers are very strict on this requirement. A lot of fonts make the words look larger when it actually doesn't meet the page requirements.

There can be some disadvantages though of doing weekly blog posts. Sometimes, the Internet isn't always on your side. Technology has its ups and its downs. The Internet could be running one second and be off the next. Getting the blog posts to be done on time is sometimes difficult when the Internet is not working. There could be a storm that shuts down the Internet for a day or two. Another, disadvantage is that sometimes your work doesn't save or the Internet crashes while you are working on your post. It is a pain to have to do the post all over again. 

I think it is really interesting to view other people's blogs that my peers are doing. Reading other blogs give you ideas for your post. When I don't know what to write about I can take videos and pictures from other people's posts and give my opinions that I have on it. I can also quote other people's blogs in my own post. Even reading other people's blogs online not just other student's in my class is a good idea. Reading other people's opinions gives you more insight on the topic. 

 Summary: 

Blogging	Writing in the Classroom
No format	Strict format
Add different forms of Media	No media
Can write about whatever you want	Topic of the day
Can read other people’s blogs	Teacher only reads it