I'm reading an article called "Content Delivery in the Blogosphere," and I'm fascinated! When the idea of doing a seminar paper on blogging was first introduced, I felt reluctant. What could I say that could be interesting? But as I read this article, I'm beginning to understand what kind of potential the blogosphere has. For one thing, the pedagogy behind using blogs for educational purposes (with your students) is to demonstrate how important social interaction is for writing. A blog can help establish the feeling of community between writing class members that is needed for real creativity to take place. Students can also view what they have posted, read it again, and reshape what they've created, or post more. They can review each other's postings and add comments. This is true publication, for free, for the purpose of sharing with other members of a writing community. Students begin to understand process, the value of feedback, and the flexibility of a community that is shared in cyberspace. I think what I value most is the ability to share ideas that I might not have wanted to share face to face: less risk here. Students who don't contribute verbally in class might be the ones who most enjoy the blog. The author of this article, Richard E. Ferdig, also points out that students can experience what it's like to have power over their content. He warns that educators must set limits (obviously), or students might lose focus and purpose, but I would want to encourage my students to post links or pictures, or artwork or graphics, or whatever will enhance their experience with blogging. I'm heading off to do more research. If anyone would like to read the article I'm referring to, here is the citation: Ferdig, Richard E. "Content Delivery in the Blogosphere." T H E Journal 31.7 (2004): 12-20. The author is affliated with the University of Florida.