Reluctant students are certainly something to keep in mind when teaching. Class size might play a role; there's more of a chance to contribute with ten vs thirty participants in the same discussion. That being said, class blogs sound like a wonderful and effective way to engage all learners no matter the group size or setting.
The blogs as a way of getting reluctant/shy students to contribute has ups and downs. The most obvious positive benefit would be giving timid students a chance to express themselves, and enrich the class as a whole with their observant comments. The flip side is that I can't really stand the run on sentences etc... relevant to blogging. Nonetheless, it seems the positives far outweigh any of the particulars related to grammar structure; the more students participate and own their education, the better.
On a personal experience level, I wish I had known the value of blogging when I taught 60 Chinese elementary students for a few months back in 2010... no, 60 is far too low a number, 5 classes of 60 students each is more like it. With such a behemoth of a class size, only the first two rows (14 students) had any chance of paying attention when there was direct instruction involved. The rest of the class, especially in the back row, didn't bother whatsoever. The one saving grace was that I had a computer with a projector screen for PowerPoint- it saved the day. Sadly, it was not possible to include all of the students in discussions, and blogging would have been a very relevant solution to reluctant learners.
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