The author recognises at the start of his piece how the teaching profession suffers from a high level of job dissatisfaction, with nearly 50% of teachers expected to leave the profession within five years. Hernández-Ramos correctly attributes this to a disillusionment among teachers where they feel they lack a voice, being instead akin to a machine instructing pupils from a standard curriculum. The challenge of showing the importance of teaching to students was observed, with the goal of addressing this challenge through the use of blogging and discussion forums as a way to encourage reflective learning.
The use of personal thoughts as a way of reflective learning is not new, as students have long kept journals as a means of reflecting on their learning, but as is pointed out in the article, the traditional printed journal was written with the express intent of targeting only one person, the teacher grading the work, tailoring the content to please the sole reader and receiving very limited feedback or correspondence. Blogging allows for the same introspective experience while addressing a potentially larger audience, where the entire planet can potentially access your opinions, offering analysis and opinions on the piece. This is beneficial to the overall work, as the writer must focus more on what they write and not tailor it to target any one individual.
The use of blogs can be additionally beneficial to students uncomfortable with contributing in the traditional classroom environment, where a limited timeframe and large numbers restrict the ability for less forthright students to engage with the class. The ability to read a post and reply to it at any time, from the university library or one's own bedroom allows for a more comfortable approach to engaging with others outside of the intensity of the classroom.
As the article suggests, the main benefit of using blogs and discussion forums as part of the education process is the development of a collaborative structure, where participants comment on, offer feedback to, and peer review each other's posts and opinions. Hernández-Ramos points out that the vast majority of the class satisfactorily fulfilled the class requirements (only nine of the 56 students failed to do so), arguing that this proved that the project encouraged motivation and consistency from the students, who were largely enthusiastic about the project. A common theme mentioned by the bloggers was their experience of integrating technology into their lesson plans.
In spite of the overall enthusiasm of the student teachers, Hernández-Ramon admits that only five out of 56 planned to incorporate technology into their teaching once they entered the profession, though others hesitated only because of uncertainty as to what resources might be available in schools to allow for such an incorporation. The author also recognises the need for input from the course instructor. Simply offering the tools available from blogging and discussion forums fail to offer a proper service, with students often lacking direction and the course unable to encourage motivation or any significant activity from participants.
Overall, the use of blogging and discussion forums will continue to grow. The Internet has grown in the last two decades to become an all-encompassing and important tool utilised by humanity. The current generation of students are the last to experience life without the Internet and the tools it provides, though all have used the Internet to assist them in their studies to some extent. As years progress, students will enrol into universities having already engaged with the Internet, blogging and forums from an early age, and therefore completely comfortable with the concept of integrating technology into their careers. This new method of teaching may encourage teachers to find their "voice", and to use it in their vocation, hopefully keeping more of them in the profession.
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