Blogging has quickly become a more prominent
venue for people to express themselves and exchange ideas. This class at Kansas
State, Integrating Technology into Adult Curriculum, is the first time I have
experienced blogging as a part of an educational assignment. My first thoughts
were “you post a thought, someone else reads it, makes his or her comment,…
what’s the difference between that and the discussion board?” However, after
our reading and reflecting on the experience a little more, it does seem like a
great tool to add personal creativity to the student’s learning experience, as
well as expand that learning exchange to a much a broader audience through the
world wide web.
The first difference I didn’t realize before is
that most discussion boards are housed within the online education system (i.e.
BlackBoard, Moodle, etc) of the school / university where access is limited to
those registered within that specific course.
However, blogs are open for everyone with access to the web and other
social media website, including the ability to comment and follow the blogs
(Santos, 2011). Freedom of expression,
allowing for a “distinct, discriminating voice” (Oravec, 2002, p. 621) is a
great benefit to the tool offered in blogs as opposed to discussion boards as
well. This allows for added creativity
with how the student displays his or her learning experience. Plus, with the added benefit that others are
able to comment on the blogs, it creates “a genre that engages students and
adults in a process of thinking in words, not simply an accounting of the day’s
events or feelings” (Richardson, 2009, p. 20).
On the downside, creating and keeping up with a
blog can seem like “techno-hell” (King & Cox, 2011, p. 95) for some; In
addition, some instructors may be intimidated by the “digital disconnect, [or
the] gap between the students’ adept use of technology in their personal lives
versus the lack of savvy in using digital media in the classroom” (King &
Cox, 2011, p. 95). I believe, however, that with some preparation ahead of
time, there is no reason that blogs can’t be a very usual tool for students to
be able to express their thoughts in a creative fashion, allow for other
students worldwide to exchange ideas, and really serve as a “transformative
technology for teaching and learning” (King & Cox, 2011, p. 97).
References
King & Cox. (2011). The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology. USA: Information Age
Publishing Inc.
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for
Classrooms. (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Santos, N. E. (2011). Blogs as a Learning Space:
Creating Text of Talks. Contemporary
Issues in Education Research, 4(6), p. 15–19.
Oravec, J. A. (2002). Bookmarking the World:
Weblog Applications in Education. Journal
of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45(7), p. 616-618.
Hi Kayla,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post! I think you made some good points about the differences between blogging and discussion boards. Something I think is interesting is that in almost all of the posts I have read this week (including my own) people have stated that blogs allow for more personalization and creativity. This got me thinking; why can't students be creative and personal in a discussion board?
In reviewing the blog posts this week and comparing them to the discussions we all had last week in the discussion board through KSOL it is evident to me this is true. Our posts in KSOL all seemed more formal than the posts we have made on our blogs, although our blog posts are also just as educational.
From an instructor standpoint I wonder if we could actually improve the quality of discussion board activities by encouraging students to be more creative and to lend their personal insights more frequently. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?
Amanda, I wonder if the formality we see in discussion boards is related to our perceptions about the formality of a classroom. I think sometimes we apply whatever idea we have about graduate school or even school in general to the discussion board.
DeleteIn addition to my earlier post...
ReplyDeleteI also wonder if a "pro" or "benefit" of blogging is more adaptability to different learning styles that students may have. Abell (2006) noted that many learning management systems to not allow for students to apply their varying knowledge or learn in various ways. Using a combination of technologies such as discussion boards, blogs, and wikis may allow for every student to find a method of expression and learning best suited to their individual needs.
Reference:
Abell, M. (2006). Individualizing learning using intelligent
technology and universally designed curriculum. Journal of
Technology, Learning, and Assessment, 5(3), 4-21.
Hi Amanda:
DeleteI definitely think that a blog is a very beneficial web 2.0 tool which can be used to support various learning styles. For example, my blog has a variety of learning style elements: visual (images and table), auditory (video), and kinesthetic (hyperlinks; color highlights of select content material) to facilitate the processing and retention of the required course content material as well as supplementary readings.
~Aja
Hi Kayla:
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good post; I enjoyed reading it. I love that your post spoke about the creative domain associated with blogging. I made a similar point in my post. There are more certain functional elements in a blog infrastructure that can expand one's creative juices such as importing widgets; applying multimedia design via video, images, and interactive hyperlinks; and incorporating social media features such as Google Following and/or Recommendation.
What are your thoughts on the larger audience adult learners potentially have access to via blogging (Carter, 2011)? Specifically, do you see any benefits and/or challenges associated with this distinctive feature of blogs?
~Aja
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References
Carter, T. J. (2011). Blogging as reflective practice in the graduate classroom. In K. P. King & T. D. Cox (Eds.), The professor’s guide to taming technology (pp. 89-104). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteAja actually answered exactly what my thoughts were. My thoughts about how blogs allow for so much more creativity and personalization are primarily geared to the functionalities of blogs, such as importing images, links, Wikis, videos, changing layouts and templates, creating charts and more. Aja's blog is a great example as to how visually stimulating a learner can create a post and still express their views in an educational fashion.
Aja,
I think the larger audience is certainly a double-edged sword. It is wonderfully beneficial when it comes to opening up the learning experience to students worldwide. Students everywhere, as long as they have access to the internet, can access, read, and comment on the posts, extending the learning exchange to everyone involved, whether officially enrolled in the course or not. Plus, students from groups outside those of the students within the class (such as from other areas of the world or different socioeconomic groups) can sometimes offer insights that the students enrolled within the class may not have considered. However, the downfalls to this larger audience is the critique that comes along with posting your opinions and thoughts online to a worldwide audience. I think this challenge can be minimized best by reminding students before they post that their words are seen by anyone and everyone, reminding them to be respectful with their comments. We are all entitled to our opinions, but then again, so is everyone else.
Hi Kayla,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts about blogging. I like the point you brought up from King & Cox (2011) regarding how keeping up with a blog for some can be considered a “techno-hell” (pg. 95). I really enjoy technology and like learning more about different mediums especially when it comes to class and changing things up. Message boards alone are great tools, but they can also be a bit boring. Thus far, I have been able to navigate the new technologies I have been introduced to, but I can also see how it can be difficult for some to juggle technology at work combined with a blog and a wiki and whatever else you may use on a personal level. For me it’s probably harder to live without it than juggling it all. For example, next week I am going to Disney World and learned that the house my husband and I are renting doesn’t have Wi-Fi. When I learned this panic set in. How am I going to keep up with my wiki group? What about the blog posts I’m supposed to make? No fear! If nothing else this class has already taught me that with technology, even when it fails in one way, there are ways to get around it. I can still go to a local library, or a Starbucks with Wi-fi. Even better, I did some research and discovered my iphone can become a Wi-fi hotpot, so I can still to stay connected while on vacation. Although I can understand how it may be difficult for some to juggle technology, for me, it’s only “techno hell” when I don’t have access. This also reminds me that not everyone is as lucky as I am. I can usually do most of my homework at the office and in the comfort of my home. I don’t have to sacrifice like others who maybe cannot afford a home computer or home Internet.
Karyn
King, K. and Cox, T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
I get the “techno hell” aspect you mentioned (Kathleen P. King, Thomas D Cox, 2011). Sometimes the commitment of a site accessible to all can be a little overwhelming. While the argument that one doesn’t have keep it up for a personal blog is accurate, if a blog is a class assignment and it needs to be done in addition to discussion board activity and other requirements, it can be overwhelming to try and be creative all the time. It feels a little like when your high school English teacher tells you to write a paper with no real parameters. The possibilities can become endless and paralyzing all by themselves!
ReplyDeleteKathleen P. King, Thomas D Cox. (2011). The Professors Guide to Taming Technology. Charlottee: Information Age Publishing.
What insight! I never related the creativity portion of blogging as a pro and a con. As a student, I have the latitude to construct a blog that addresses the work assignments, display any personal information I chose to share, and embellish the page to reflect my taste. However, the university sets boundaries for the educational exchange and students are bound to post information within those guidelines. I began to wonder…what would it be like if we were taught to “blog” just like we learn math and language we could advance the use of technology in education at all levels of society. In the article, Fostering Student Creativity and Responsibility with Blogging, “to encourage these dual goals of responsibility and creativity, a colleague and I created a project which served three purposes: teaching basic blogging skills, discussing responsible blogging practices, and offering the opportunity to customize content for their blogs” (Stewart, 2011). Even as I reflect on the pros or cons, I can see the value of integrating the use of technology in the classroom with the same robustness traditional education models we can completely transform education as we know it and increase the level of engagement for all learners.
DeleteStewart, Meredith (June, 2011). Fostering Student Creativity and Responsibility With Blogging.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/blogging-in-the-classroom-meredith-stewart
Hi Susie:
DeleteThe Stewart article is fantastic! It is such a good find. I love how the author turned blogging into an engaging learning activity. That is the type of teaching which is so important and valuable. I wish more teacher education programs introduced their undergraduate and graduate student to this type of methodological approach to teaching.
~Aja