Most American schools have computers. While it's a nice fantasy to imagine a world in which all students have access to Photoshop, Audition, Kursweil, Sibelius, and iPads, most schools simply don't have the budget for expensive learning tools like these. Blogs, however, "offer a free or low-cost, easy to assemble web page, allowing historians to present ideas, opinions, research, or just to let off some steam" (Olwell, 2008).
Instructor Barry Wixman uses blogs to motivate his students, many of whom are English Language Learners. Wixman says that the blogs "focus [his students], because these blogs can be seen around the world," a powerful motivator to dot all of your i's and cross all of your t's (CNN, 2007). Blogging can aid students in most (if not all) of the fluencies mentioned in The 21st Century Fluency Project, five critical thinking skills with a focus in multimedia literacy and preparing individuals to become Digital Citizens. In my final lesson plan, I have students writing blogs about the American Revolution from a chosen perspective. My hope is that, by using the blogging venue, my students will tap into their creative, information, and solution fluencies, as well as collaborate with their classmates, and hopefully, eventually with students from another school or country.
