Blogs in the Classroom

When thinking about the place of a blog in my future classroom, I think of how convenient it would be to have somewhere online for students to have access to the requirements or rubrics of various assignments.  I've seen a lot of students that struggle to remember to write things down and so forget to do assignments.  However, students are generally used to checking online sites like Facebook daily, and so it seems like a way to seamlessly graft school assignments into routines and habits they already have.  Additionally, I think a blog offers a format for more self-expression rather than just writing a paper.  Blogs are more casual than a paper, and there's encouragement to put more of one's personality and opinion into it.  It also provides a platform for an ongoing conversation/discussion about a topic with the option to comment on posts.  That's not really an option with papers - it's not very easy for students to "comment" on classmates' papers unless it's a google doc.  I think blogs would be great for encouraging students to help each other think more deeply about a concept, and even more to explore positions on and the complexities of controversial issues in science.  It could even be used to help brainstorm ideas for solutions to various environmental issues - that would be extremely interesting.