Today's task was to think about the usefulness of blogs for educational purposes. I have enjoyed exploring a wide range of blogs but I think the best example was the blog which accompanied the Ethics and Religion course at the University of Gloucestershire.

This has a clear purpose which is crucial for a successful blog, it was very elegantly presented which made it a pleasure to read and very tempting to keep returning, the tone was friendly yet authoritative and it included everything from philosophical essays to details of a forthcoming trip.

I think students would find it easy to navigate and be reassured that the site was properly moderated. Definitely something to consider for my own courses.

In contrast, I wasn't as impressed by the other blogs which seemed rather more vague and self indulgent. SLE102 seemed to be more about the blogger's interests than the student's - although it did provide some insight into terms which I had heard about but didn't understand - like 'twitter'!

I'm certainly looking forward to twittering and blogging with my own students next academic year!