The New Exponent

By Jon M. Heatherly
Co-Editor-in-chief

So, Tennessee Wesleyan College finally has a newspaper with a website; it’s about time. Among the myriad of benefits that arise while bringing focus from print to electronic media, each newspaper staff member or TWC student group now has the option of creating and maintaining their very own blog.

First of all, I realize that while some are very tech-savvy in my generation, others still need help plugging in a flash drive. So what is a blog, you might ask? Simply put: “web-log”.

You can do anything with a blog from showing off your photos to creating short stories. Or, you could represent your student organization while providing constant updates to all the campus community. Even if you wanted to do a captain’s log online about your maiden voyage circumnavigating the globe in your new mega-yacht, you can do that. Seriously.

The benefits of blogging in the learning environment are just as substantial as with any other environment. In an article from Teaching Today, the educational benefits from blogging in the classroom include the following:

• Blogs motivate students to participate, particularly those that might not otherwise.
• They provide excellent opportunities for improving one’s reading and writing abilities.
• They are effective forums for collaboration and discussion.
• Blogs are also powerful tools that enable scaffolded learning or mentoring to occur.

As one can see, it was pretty much a no-brainer. Having a blog and linking it from our site is not just cost-effective, it’s free. For the student group that wants to get the word out with limited funds, you can get the word out just the same as long as you are willing to give a little time to the cause.

I realize some of you may be interested in this offer. If you want to include your own blog on this website for a student organization or as a staff contributor, send us an email at newexponent@live.com, by all means. We will help you get started, and the process is simple after setting up the blog. What are you waiting for?

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