Critical Thinking through Blogging

A fairly old (in the world of blogging) post on Weblogg-ed presented a sort of hierarchy of ways to use teachers and students use blogs.  The author identifies posting assignments and "journaling" as the least effective way of using a classroom blog.  Providing links takes advantages of the hyperlinked nature of blogging, but still doesn't really get to the heart of good blogging.  For "real blogging" to happen, this author argues the posts should:

• "Link with analysis and synthesis that articulates a deeper understanding or relationship to the content being linked and written with potential audience response in mind."

And/or

• Provide "extended analysis and synthesis over a longer period of time that builds on previous posts, links and comments."

Like other class assignments, these blog uses require the higher order thinking skills, in addition to higher order technology skills, that we are truly hoping to develop in students.

Mark Sample at The Chronicle's ProfHacker discussed a blog audit assignment that he has students complete halfway through the semester in this October 2010 post.  His blog audit assignment consists of two parts.  First, the students are asked to print out and re-read all of the posts they've done so far (it sounds like they do weekly blog posts).  They are directed to critically read and evaluate their posts, "noticing what you notice," and then write a new "meta" blog post that analyzes and reflects on those posts.  Sample reports, "Students are often quite surprised to revisit their ideas—ideas they frequently don’t remember even having or writing—and discovering the value of their own insights."  Applying critical thinking skills to their own writing helps to foster self-reflection and reinforce general critical thinking and analysis skills.  The second part of the assignment replaces a traditional mid-term assignment, and asks students to select two of their previous posts and develop them further into 1000-1200 word essays.  Suggestions for doing so include substantially revising a post they are unhappy with, expanding a post that include an idea that could be developed further, or pushing a post they really enjoyed even further based on more recent class readings and discussions.  In the best cases, Sample says, this type of self-reflective assignment makes students "cognizant of the limits or gaps in their own knowledge—and their self-representation of that knowledge."

Using a blog to supplement classroom instruction, when done effectively, can be an engaging way for students to reflect on their work, think critically about what they are learning and writing, and situate their ideas in a larger public framework.  Educators who blog about educational blogging frequently identify the public nature of a blog as a motivation for students to think and write more clearly and responsibly.  Knowing that others besides their classmates and professors can read and comment on their ideas fosters a greater awareness of "audience" and can encourage students to think more critically about their ideas and how they are presenting them.

How do you currently try to foster critical thinking in your classes?  Could a blog be an appropriate venue for enhancing that learning?