I have often used journals to promote writing fluency. For some students these work really well. I think blogging could bridge the gap between a personal writing journal and the MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter postings many (most?) of my students are already making.
The idea of connecting a student blog to a specific course of study makes a lot of sense and I think there might be a traditional, low-tech analog available for kids without Internet access and a computer or messaging phone. Computer lab time or traditional paper-type journals might provide an avenue for everyone to contribute.
What if students were given an opportunity to partner with others? In the same way that NHS students volunteer to tutor, would some students be willing to publish posts on behalf of classmates who don't have access? For example, student A doesn't have computer access so she hand writes postings into a journal. Student B updates the blog and returns comments and other replies so that student A can review them offline.
I know this wouldn't be ideal, but it might be a suitable workaround for cases where not every student in a class could participate outside of the classroom. Who knows? there might be some cooperative learning benefits in this as well.
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That's an interesting idea about student partnering as a means to counter the lack of access that some students face. It might work for some. Access is often stated as a concern teachers have with using technolgy for student assignments.
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