Blogging, fun or functional!
What is blogging anyway? One definition is that blogging is an online communication tool that can develop personal bonds with and among students and encourage extended dialog about relevant topics when used in the instructional environment (Instructional Blogging: Promoting Interactivity, Student-Centered Learning, and Peer Input). I haven't used a weblog in any of the classes I teach, in fact, I had never posted to a blog before taking the Online Teaching for Adult Learners course. I can see where it can be a valuable tool if used wisely; it can offer additional opportunities to engage students, it can complement community building in hybrid and distance courses, and can frame personal places in virtual spaces.
It is important to explore the strengths and weaknesses of blogging before using it in an online or hybrid class. According to Stuart Glogoff (Instructional Blogging: Promoting Interactivity, Student-Centered Learning, and Peer Input), students will not be responsive to this tool if the posts aren’t required, or if their posts aren’t commented on by the instructor.
Value of Blogging
- Encourage guided discovery and knowledge construction by researching a topic, synthesizing what they learned, and applying the concepts to a real-world situation.
- Students and guest practitioners can interact by exchanging ideas and asking questions of each other. The result of this type of communication is deeper analysis of a topic
- Learner-centered feedback – An instructor can use a student’s blog to give positive feedback on their postings.
Weakness
- Students abandon blogs - Instructor should require the students to post and also comment on their entries
- Online vs. Hybrid - If a course is fully online, students may not post to a blog because they do not take ownership in the information. Blogging may be more successful a hybrid class because the instructor can facilitate face-to-face discussions.
- Blog pages are public, so an instructor may want to use email or face-to-face exchanges with the student to discuss critical comments.
It is interesting that the strength and a weakness of a blog is that it is public.
A blog that was applied successfully as an education tool, was a collaboration between high school students and the author of a book titled The Secret Life of Bees. Students could show their interpretation of the chapters by drawing a picture of by writing their thoughts. This allowed different learners to be able to express their thoughts. To view the posts, visit the following: http://weblogs.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=weblogs&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fweblogs.hcrhs.k12.nj.us%2Fbees
Reference:
Glogoff, S. 2005. Instructional blogging: Promoting interactivity, student-centered learning, and peer input. Innovate 1 (5). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=126 (accessed September 17, 2006).
posted by Marol @ 6:34 PM
3 Comments:
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Okay, let's try this again. I really enjoyed your comments on the article, Marol. A note of warning to anyone who tries to reach the article from the link: you have to be logged in to the site for the link to work. Go to http://www.innovateonline.info/ and create an account. Then you can link to and download the article.
I appreciate, Marol, that you added the links about the Secret Life of Bees blogging, since that provides a different perspective. Ann
Hi - here is another name for you dealing with blogging and education - Will Richardson. I had the pleasure of taking a 3 day workshop with him (High School's New Face, in Ellicottville, NY) last summer. He is an educator who promotes the use of blogging for education. Here is one url I found with an article by him:http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/richardson.shtml
Blogging and RSS — The "What's It?" and "How To" of Powerful New Web Tools for Educators. If you ever get to attend one of his workshops, don't miss out. He taught us all how to blog, how to wiki, how to aggregate, how to podcast and how to subscribe to rss feeds. More importantly, he taught us how and when to use them in education.
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