2. THE APPLICATION OF BLOG IN EDUCATION
Since 2000, when Weblogs became widely available, a surprisingly wide variety of blog uses can
be observed in the higher education and research arenas. Researchers, academics, teachers, and
students are excitedly embracing blogs.
In the field of higher education in particular, where online asynchronous communication has
taken place, either through email or discussion boards, blogs have been used in a number of
different roles, which have both extended and in some instances replaced existing online
communication tools. This has indicated the usefulness of blogs as communication and/or
cognitive tools for specific disciplines, such as language learning, journalism and communication
studies, academic research, law, higher education in general, and teachers’ professional
development.
The Blog appears to enrich the learning experience and provide an opportunity for learners to
shift from surface to deeper levels of learning. Surface learning is characterized by the approach
of the learner to complete only the minimum content necessary to meet assessment requirements,
whether that is learning only what may be presented in a test or simply attending and completing
activities. Conversely, deep learning is how learners stand back from an experience, seek out
connections between concepts, and contextualize meaning. In general, the blog as a learning
journal is a way of documenting learning and collecting information for self-analysis and
reflection, it helps students nurturance a habit to study from surface to deep.