“Blogging is helping students to think and write more critically(批评地),”says an Australian researcher, “and can help draw out people who would otherwise not engage in debate.”

These are the preliminary findings of PHD research by Anne Bartlett-Bragg, a lecturer at the University of Technology, Sydney, who has been using weblogs or blogs in her own teaching since 2001.

“The students are thinking more critically.” she says, “They are learning to be responsible and they’re communicating outside the boundaries of the classroom and the institution, and they like that. “Bartlett-Bragg says in conventional teaching, students often rely on the lecturer as the main source of ideas and critique (评论)for their work. “I’m a bit over listening to my students giving me back in an essay what I’ve told them in class.” she says. “I want them to think for themselves and get different perspectives.”

“What makes blogs useful is their interactive nature.” she says. These web-based forums(论坛)for discussing ideas, experiences or opinions allow students to discuss publicly what they are studying with other students and experts outside their own university. “I really encourage them to put their personal opinion in there, provided they are informed and backed up with evidence.” Bartlett-Bragg says because a lot of academics in her field of electronic or e-learning now have their own blogs, students can engage directly with them.

She says one of the most powerful facilities in weblogs is pinging, which involves a person positing a comment about someone else’s work on their own blog. They use the “Trackback” tool to notify the author when they have published the comment, basically inviting them to discuss it.

“They get such a buzz when they make a comment on another person outside the boundaries of the institution and that person responds, or even gives them some further reading.” she says. “They are getting new perspectives that I can’t give them in a normal lecture.”