Weblogs and Collaborative Web Publishing as Learning Spaces

Abstract

Weblogs have received a great deal of public attention recently, accompanied by a certain degree of hyperbole. Software designed to maintain weblogs is little more than a simplified content management system. The excitement surrounding weblogs has less to do with flexible systems that ease the process of web publishing, and—like many technologies that allow for virtual interaction—more to do with the cultural practices that have evolved using these technologies as a foundation. As with any other educational technology, the success of weblogs and other web publishing technologies in an educational setting depends heavily on the specifics of their implementation and use. The following pages explore the exciting potential of weblogs and related tools for student-centered education, provide some indication of how they might be used most effectively to meet the needs of learners, and discuss the inevitable difficulties of engaging the kinds of radically open and democratic education that collaborative web publishing engenders within existing institutional spaces. The assessment of such approaches remains guardedly optimistic, and it is hoped that readers will actively contribute to refining these technologies to allow for more effective and rewarding future learning environments.