IT for Education

I'm supposed to be reviewing another education-focused blog for my assignment. My first reaction was less than keen, as in my research so far I've stumbled across several blogs via web searches that have served a specific need I've been hunting for, but I've never hung around long enough to delve into other posts and form a reasonable opinion on them. Was I going to need to speed read a bunch of blogs I may not have liked, just to be able to briefly write about them here? As it happens, I was thinking too narrowly. My fairly blinkered opinion on what constitutes a blog is still quite old-school: independent thought trains from the common man, given a voice on the world stage by the democratisation of technology. In reality, the modern interpretation on what counts as blogging has become fairly loose and also seems to be becoming more prevalent from those that would prefer to be called true journalists. I think there's a fine line personally, one that gets crosse...

One of the required blog entries in my assignment is to discuss the usefulness of reflective writing in effective teaching. I don't mention this because it is factually true, nor as an attempt to sound as if I'm answering like I'm doing a GCSE exam. I mention it because I think blogs - as a concept, if not always the execution - are an inherently reflective medium and communication format, so it's worth discussing why. Then I'll just segue into answering the question, all natural like. A blog is not long-form, 'one-shot' writing like a thesis or book. A blog communicates near instantly and favours ongoing, frequently updated topics. This lends itself well to reflective writing as it does to any introspective subject by capturing that self-analytical process in bite-sized chunks, unhindered by pesky academic guidelines that  expect you to be rational . I jest of course, and indeed blogging's greatest strength - democratisation of communication - is a...