Blogging has become a primary mode of communication and news over the past few years. It has transformed how we take in information. For example, with blogging I have the freedom to pick and choose the my intake of media \u2013 tailored more to my interests rather than being subject to what the 6:00 news deems \u201cnewsworthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a professor of clinical mental health counseling at the Cascades campus (and taking the hybrid learning course), I had an assignment to post to this blog. My first time blogging ever! This assignment inspired me to think about how I use blogs currently and how I might be able to use them in the future. I have several blogs that I follow in my personal life \u2013 but what about my professional life? Blogs can become a major learning tool. For example, the APA Style Blog<\/a> is a great resource to support students in their APA style formatting and composition.<\/p>\n Using a blog for teaching is a creative tool. One of the ways I might integrate a blog into my professional practice as a counselor is a marketing tool. Posting information about the newest evidence-based practice or a resource page would be good for both clients and students alike. In the counseling field, having a personal contact with the counselor prior to counseling helps the client evaluate if the counselor would be a good \u201cfit.\u201d I also think that having students\u2019 reactions on new topics is a great way to evaluate their synthesis of what they are learning.<\/p>\n Blogs are also an excellent way that students can learn from each other. One of the articles that I read in preparation for this blog post was Five Common Pitfalls of Online Course Design<\/a>.The “pitfall” that spoke most to me was ignoring the way students learn from each other. Sometimes I assume that students learn just from the course content, lectures, and other resources – but they learn just as much from their interaction with each other! Blogging is a powerful medium where they can express both their personal and their professional goals.<\/p>\n One of my challenges in thinking about hybrid learning is whether I will encourage students to blog for the short-term (e.g., the class) or the long-term (e.g., their practice). I would welcome any thoughts about this challenge!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blogging has become a primary mode of communication and news over the past few years. It has transformed how we take in information. For example, with blogging I have the freedom to pick and choose the my intake of media … Continue reading