Blending by Blogging: weblogs in blended learning initiatives

Weblogs (‘blogs’) are emerging in many educational contexts as vehicles for personal expression and the dissemination and critique of Internet materials. The study of the weblog phenomenon in itself can convey important insights about social construction; hundreds of thousands of blogs emerged worldwide within a fairly short time span without considerable direction from corporations or other institutions. Strategic approaches toward blended learning environments are often instructor-centered, with control of the mix of educational approaches in the instructor's hands. In contrast, weblogs are a flexible medium that can be used in approaches that provide educational participants with a ‘middle space’ of options as to how to integrate face-to-face and online modes. Weblog construction encourages the development of individual, critical voices within the broader context of classroom interactions.