Using blogs and microblogging is fast becoming a regular part of our everyday lives but how can the power of these tools and platforms be used to enhance teaching and learning?

Cameron Hoffman is Information Literacy Librarian at Concordia University. Providing instruction on how to find information and use library resources also requires a clear understanding of the latest tools and how best to use them ethically and more effectively for university teaching and research. Find out how to use blogs to achieve engaging teaching that supports new forms of course management, student reflection and peer collaboration.

Note: Please be aware that Concordia University does not currently have a policy concerning the use of social media in teaching and learning. While the question of use of external, third party social media is being investigated, faculty are advised to check with the Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning, respective Associate Dean or Office of the General Counsel to find out if the tools or platforms in question are deemed acceptable in terms of privacy and security. A determination will be made on a case by case basis until such time as a University-wide policy has been adopted.

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What on earth is a blog? Can blogs be used effectively in teaching and learning in higher education?

"A frequently updated web site consisting of personal observations, excerpts from other sources, etc., typically run by a single person, and usually with hyperlinks to other sites; an online journal or diary. " Oxford English Dictionary

A web page that acts as a log; it is updated frequently and easily. Users (bloggers) can post entries easily to their blog using a browser, specialist blog software, via their mobile phone, or even by email.

Because blogs, by their nature, are updated frequently, you need a fancy way to keep up to date with with the ones you want to read; many allow you to subscribe to a feed. Once subscribed, you can quickly see if there are any new blog entries - either through a browser that supports RSS or via a newsreader.

Where can you find blogs?

There are lots out there, but how to find them? Blogs cross- and self-reference endlessly, so once you find one that is interesting, I suggest you follow the breadcrumbs...

Try visiting a few examples:

• jill/txt Jill Walker from the university of Bergen writes about her research and teaching with blogs.
• [daily dose of imagery] is a photoblog by Toronto-based blogger Sam Javanrouh.
• Tokyo Times is a journal by Lee Chapman, an English teacher from Manchester on life in Japan.

If you are looking for a blog on a particular topic or theme you might also try looking at indexes such as blog search engine.

How can you create a new blog?

There are lots of free services out there that will enable you to create a blog. Blogger is an example. Simply create an account, choose a template and you can start up. If you get serious about using it in your teaching you should also look at software that will allow you to host the blogs (and manage student accounts) on university servers. One such system is Drupal.

So what about learning and teaching?

Blogging is new territory for most academics, and research of the use of blogs in teaching is scarce. However, many of the elements required in maintaining a blog are the very things that we encourage students to do: keeping a reflective journal, critically assessing external sources, researching a topic, and so on.

Therefore a lot of the examples of the use of blogs in teaching we currently see involve some sort of assessment of student blogs.

Although many blogs are personal and individual, some are developed collaboratively (Blogger allows you to create group blogs), with many people able to post to them. So a blog could be a co-creative space for a group of students and their teacher. The teacher can post to the blog as they would to a course website (resources, outlines, assignments...) and students can be tasked with responding to the teacher's resources and activities, keeping a reflective learning journal, and evaluating the work of their peers.

Glossary blog: weblog feed: A file that can be read by RSS clients - publishes the "latest headlines" from a blog. This means you don't have to visit blogs directly to know what is new. newsreader: a piece of software designed to read feeds. podcasting: a blog consisting of audio files rather than written entries. Essentially like a small-scale radio station accessible via the Internet. RSS: Some debate about what this stands for - some think "Really Simple Syndication"; being able to publish feeds that others can use. TIP: all these terms and others can be found in wikipedia