What I learnt about blogging.

Before this course I had very little knowledge about blogging in society let alone using it in the classroom. I found the reading from Stephen Downes easy to read and benefical in my learning. The statements from students and educational professionals really displayed the positives that blogging has for education. The statement that stood out to me most was that blogging gives oppurtunity for people to reflect, critize, question and react. Personally, I don't like writing reflections because generally I am the only person who will see them and due to time restraints I don't normally consider or read them again. However, I now see value in reflecting via blogging as other people can give feedback and then the reflection has more meaning and value. - it's like a working document. I see this working in a classroom - however the only concern I have is the possiblity of 'outsiders' bullying my students or replying in an inappropriate manner. I would want blogging to be a positive experience for my students. So I was wondering if anyone knew - is there any posibility of blocking certain people from blogs or is it literally open to the whole world? Thanks :) I finally got around to answering this question of mine (because no one else did), and the answer is yes, you can place blocks on blogs. I first went searching through google for the answer, and found that other blogging sites such as "WordPress" allow you to control viewers. However, I have Blogger - so I went exploring through the tabs and found this: It is a tool that allows you to add authors to one blog (useful for a group assignment) and also place blocks/ select the views. I think that this is a great tool as information is more secure and the students may be more likely to share information more freely - knowing who can and can't view it.