Blogs have potential uses in education but have been underutilized. Instructors and students can author blogs jointly or individually. Blogs allow instructors to provide feedback on student work and track conceptual progress over a course. Studies show blogs have positive outcomes when used for pre-class reading and encourage collaboration among students. Blogs can also support professional development for teachers by fostering diversity, interactivity, and accountability within their community.

1. The use of blogs has progressed slowly but remains an untapped potential in both K-12 and higher education settings. Instructors and students may author blogs jointly as a collaborative effort. Blogs give a medium for instructors to review, check, and give feedback on students’ work. Instructors and students can bridge their posts with other relevant blogs, and blog history shows a conceptual progress that has taken place throughout the course term, and it provides a date/time stamp for record keeping (Al-Fadda & Al-Yahya, 2010). A recent study concluded that blogs show a positive outcome when used for pre-class reading Al-Fadda et al. Students can use the blogs collaboratively for encouragement amongst each other. Another such study determined that the role of blogs can create a professional development environment that triggers diversity, interactivity, and accountability among a community of teachers (Hou, Chang, & Sung, 2009). Blogs may also be used as a combined effort with portfolios to aid with professional development needs among faculty. <br /> <br />