Well, here I am making my first blog entry. As other bloggers have mentioned, I have mixed feelings about adding blogging to my chemistry courses. I have to say that my experience in this field is very limited. At every level of my own education, blogging was nonexistent at the time. So I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising if I am a little unsure of how it all goes, or even its advantages. The closest that my classroom activities have come to blogging is when I would have my students read an article that I gave them, and post a review of it according to a prescribed rubric. Then, once the majority of the class had done this, each was to make a meaningful reply to another’s post. Overall I had just limited success with this. Some enjoyed it and posted very interesting and insightful thoughts. But most seemed to be just going through the motions to get the points. I have used Wiki Spaces, Ning, and My Big Campus for this (when they were free). In recent years, though, I have gotten away from this with all the other responsibilities that we have in the classroom. I would love to hear some fresh ideas from anyone as to how to use blogging in science, because I do believe that writing is important and beneficial in every area and at every level of education.