Web Blog to Improve Writing skills

Ika Fatkhiyati Nurul Umay
1507042026

Introduction

There are many media that can be use to improve the students’ writing skills. In this article the writer want to discuss about one of the best media to improve students’ writing that is web blog. Web blog is a communicative media for writing process. By giving blogging activities, the students can be more enthusiastic in the writing class.

Web Blog

Besides method, media is very important aspect in the learning process. Media that can be used in learning writing is web blog and e-learning. Piskurich (2004) says that e-learning refers to learning that occurs as a result of information obtained in form of electronic data. It can be several of format and procedures. Garrand (2006) also states that multimedia can be called as interactive media because there is interactive program there, such as click-and-read page. Choosing a certain learning methods will influence the kind of media used. The students more attracted with the use of media in the classroom. According to Reddi and Mishra (2003), media can stimulus our brain to process data from eyes and ears. The students will be more interested with the explanation. A little illustration media is helpful than no media at all.

Web blog provides a space in storing data. It can be used as a media in the learning process. Some experts give the definition of web blog. A blog (a contraction of the term "web log") is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a web blog. Galien and Bowcher (2010) state that blog is a fairly new tool for written communication and interaction and appear in many different languages. Mynard (2007) also gives a description that a blog (or web log) is a kind of online diary that has been reported to be a useful tool for language learners for a number of reasons. From two descriptions of weblog, it can be concluded that a weblog is an online tool in communication which can be used in learning process freely. Web blog is one of the application of computer network technology that has been utilized besides multimedia, email, electronic journals, database, World Wide Web, chat, audio and video conferencing etc. Web blog is interactive so it allows the students to communicate quickly and easily with their classmates, their teacher, and even with native speakers of the target language. There are many features that can be used to support the teaching and learning process. 

According to Muhammad Adri Web Blog has many advantages. The advantages can be seen in the following mind map:

1. Publishable means easy and cheap to post materials and also able to access everywhere.
2. Linkable means has access to link people everywhere. 
3. Viral means the information spread quickly to web blog. 
4. Syndicable is the content of web blog is easy to syndic by other people. 
5. Accessible is easy to find search machine based on subject. 
6. Social is provide a tool that can be used by various people. 

  REFERENCES

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Mynard, Jo. 2007. A blog as a Tool for Reflection for English Language Learners.
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Piskurich, George M. 2004. Getting the Most from Online Learning. San
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Reddi, Usha V., and Sanjaya Mishra. 2003. Educational Technology. New Delhi:
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