James Farmer has now posted his thoughts on how not to use blogs as an educational tool as well as how they should be used.

It’s all good stuff, a good portion of which boils down to using the right tool for the right job. I’m quibbling a bit about the use of group blogs. James says not to use them. I think they have a useful place based on my success using them. In order for a group blog to work, I believe a few things need to be true:

  • Students should still be blogging individually to their own blogs. Whether through an automated process based on categories or by having them choose when to re-create/summarize/point on the group blog, it is valuable to help them contextualize the different audiences and approaches needed by the different publication spaces.
  • The group blog should not be the place for “collaborative writing” as it is tradtionally understood. Most particularly, blogs are not suited for many of the kinds of activities a wiki or wiki-like space might be useful for. The reverse– as James points out– is also true.
  • The group blog should not be replicating what might be better facilitated in a different tool, such as a discussion forum.

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