‘Blogs’ Catching On as Tool for Instruction

Teachers use interactive Web pages to hone writing skills.

Teacher Matthew J. Clausen looked at his Web-design students—their fingers flying over their computer keyboards—and marveled.

These 10th, 11th, and 12th graders—even the sullen or quiet ones who never raised their hands or took part in class discussions—were spilling out their thoughts on an assignment both to him and their classmates, he recounted recently. They did so through This Digital Life, their class Web log at Willard Alternative High School, a 130-student public high school in Missoula, Mont.

Mr. Clausen is part of a growing number of K-12 educators using Web logs, or “blogs” for short, to foster better writing, reading, communication, and other academic skills. Such Web sites, often open to the public, double as chronological journals and can include Web links and photographs as well as...