A few weeks ago someone sent the article: “5 More Reasons Why All Students Should Be Bloggers” written by Hugh Grigg and posted here.
Hugh speaks about why blogging helps from a students perspective. He isn’t like me looking back on what would have helped had I blogged while in school. He is currently attending The University of Cambridge and these are concrete benefits that he is seeing by blogging.
- It’s a ready made niche.
- You’ve got a guaranteed audience.
- It’s your passion.
- It’s a great way to keep up with your studies.
- Blogging helps you learn.
For each of these points Hugh expands stating why he feels the way that he does about each. And I couldn’t agree more. I think that all of these reasons are great for him as a student as well as educators who are reading his perspective. I encourage you to read what he wrote.
One thing that we hear often at iThemes is communication is key. So I would add a 6th point:
6. You learn to communicate more effectively.
Communicating in the written form is no longer becoming essential. It is essential. Not only in the workforce, but in everyday interaction. Blogging helps refine these skills. When writing about coursework you are not only learning that subject, but you are learning to communicate it to your readers in a clear and usually concise manner. This will serve all those who use this medium well in future careers.
One of the things we set out to do is help make access to blogs easier. Maybe you teach a writing or history course…you don’t want to waste your students time building a blog for a month. Using our tools your students have a blog/website/portfolio that they can use during your class as well as years after.