Reaction to McGrail & Davis's 'The influence of classroom blogging...'

Though this weeks reading seemed long and tedious, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. For those of you who are not aware, the reading was a journal article by McGrail and Davis about 'The influence of classroom blogging' (2011). I am going to draw on a standing point in this article, in order to discuss its significance to me.


McGrail and Davis (2011) quote a number of scholars and sources in their research. They have written, 'blogging brings outside school literacy practices into the classroom... such technology capitalises the strengths of authentic writing, the power of the writing process and the engagement of collaborative writing.' This is a great statement to make about blogging! From what I have seen on my first year of practical teaching, teachers and students seem to use blogging as a method of bringing meaning to learning. I recall while researching for Professional Experience 2: Classroom Management, that students need to see the value of the learning experience if teachers expect them to stay on task and motivated. For example, in my practicum class last year, my class had their own blog in which they made collaborative and individual posts. As you would expect, in class they would write posts together about their learning experiences. Usually for homework, students were expected to contribute to the blog via comments or their own posts. Being year two, and with many students in ESL, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors were the norm. Students would post their comments or posts, and these would immediately be sent to the teacher to either decline or accept. If the comment did not show the next day, there was an error in the spelling and grammar, and the students would realise this. The teacher would encourage students to correct themselves when this would happen, and at times called upon the class to work together towards correct grammar and spelling.


While this journal article mentions much more complex research, it was the statement above that immediately caught my attention. It made me reminisce last year's practical teaching experience, and wish that I had the opportunity to be apart of a class blog during my own primary school years. I look forward to creating my own blog when I have my own class, as it creates a sense of unity and purpose from an educational and social perspective.


Reference List:

McGrail, E. & Davis, A. (2011). The Influence of Classroom Blogging on
Elementary Student Writing. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 25:4, pp. 415-437.