Jeff Sovern (St Johns) asks a provocative question: Do Law Students Get What They Pay for When Law Professors Blog?:
[W]hat do law students get from professorial blogging? At least three things:
- [T]o the extent that blogging enhances a school's prestige, the students benefit from that. … But does blogging really enhance prestige? …[D]o schools with more and better bloggers rise in the rankings? I'm not holding my breath, but we'll see.
- [P]rofessors who blog may become more informed teachers. …
- [S]tudents also benefit when their professors blog because they can learn more about the subject by reading the blog.
The conclusion that students benefit from professorial blogging (blogging is also useful in other ways, but I'm just focusing here on student benefits) answers only part of the question, because of the opportunity costs of blogging. If professors weren't blogging, what would they do with the time?
