In this 5 page article (I printed it - oops!) the author gives her opinion of the usefulness of blogging within the EFL classroom. However she proceeds to say that 'blogging doesn't just happen' and that students need to be taught how to blog etc.

Whilst I can see this as a useful tool perhaps for advanced level students to promote and develop their writing skills, the author argues it also develops their critical thinking skills, I question where in American ESOL classrooms it fits into the curriculum. Will it enable students to develop their subject area literacy, will it prepare them for WIDA state tests, will it self correct their written language for academic purposes, or to improve their grammar. The answer is probably yes, but at what cost? Time?

The author states that blogging is useful, but only if we invest the "time" for students to learn to do it.

As yet, I am unconvinced. I see blogging as a classroom novelty. The author sees it as a way for students to become part of a "meaningful community" where it "matters" what each person says. In my experience of reading blogs, mainly newspaper related, blogging appears to be a way for people with little better to do, to express thier opinion, which frequently appears to be heavily opinionated, only for an equally opinionated person to reply. Is that meaningful?

By page 4, the author gets to the point - language is a communicative tool! At last, the relevance of blogging. With language we can communicate with people from different cultures, environments, language backgrounds and countries. From this approach I can see its usefulness, in as kind of "Hey guys, look what you have achieved through your English language learning."

As yet, I'm still unconvinced about its usefulness, based purely upon the time it takes to train students in the art of blogging. I would however be willing to devote a class per week to internet and language work with higher level students. Why not? As the saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them. Friday blogging in the computer lab would certainly make the last lesson on a Friday afternoon more exciting, and hey, schools have ICT people that thrive on helping non-geek teachers out. What a great way of getting more people involved with ELL's and giving them access to resources other than the teacher.