One of the communication skills of the students that must be developed is their writing skill. This skill is not only the students' ability to put letters into words, then words into phrases, phrases into sentences then into a paragraph. (Then into a book, :-) that is another story.)
But let us face it, time has changed and so our students. They are more adept in using the technology that we can say some teachers are still alienated with. Students spend time logging on in their accounts in different social networking sites and messaging systems. This is a good chance to introduce to them other uses of the Internet aside from tweeting and updating their status and whereabouts. It is high time to let them write using an online tool - blogging!
One of the easiest blogging tools to use is Blogger. No, my dear teacher, it is not an alien. It is a friend. Check the following video to know how to set up a blog in Blogger.
You can set up one blog then add your students as authors. It is easy as long as you invite them through their email account. So you do not need to ask them to write an essay on a piece of paper. Ask them to share their work or stories through the blog.
Every entry can be a subject of discussion in class. I am excited how the students will keep every classroom alive 24 hours a day even outside the four corners of the room.