I think a blog would be useful to provide reflections and summaries on the information learnt that week. For instance, in acupuncture you learn certain points each week, or learn about different organ systems or disease states. A weekly blog would allow me to concrete this information in my students minds by providing a summary of the information with key points to note. I could upload links to recent research about the information provided, and to further readings that students would find helpful. Further links could be provided to Google books, images, diagrams, videos, and short-cut tables for ease of remembering information.
The blog would also allow for student questions and answers. If clarification was needed on a topic, this is where it could occur. I would also encourage discussions among students about the topics, if and how they related to the information, and if they had useful resources they had come across that they could provide a link for other students to access. This would come in the format of their own blogs.
Lastly, links for short quizzes on the topic information would be provided so that students could assess their grasp of the knowledge from each week.
I think after reading the resources this is in line with how blogging is used in education, summarised by Stephen Downes (2004):
- Use for suggested readings & exercises, class times & rules, and for assignment notifications
- Use to link to items that relate to the course
- Set up in-class discussions
- Provide seminars and/or summaries of the readings for the week
- Encourage students to write their own blogs
References
Downes, S (2004). Educational Blogging, in EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 39, no. 5 (September/October 2004): 14–26, http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume39/EducationalBlogging/157920, accessed 6/3/2012
