Research on Blogs

About a month ago I came across a feature in Campus Technology entitled "Can Blogging Make a Difference?" A doctoral student studied the use of blogs in the classroom and students' perceptions of the value of blogging as an instructional activity. The doctoral student chose blogging because it "combines solitary thought and social interaction to engage students and reinforce learning."

A couple of interesting ideas stood out for me. First, the blog template used for that course mirrored my own :) Okay, not so important. More importantly were the findings that on the one hand indicated positive benefits such as "providing an outlet for thinking about things we talked about in class" and on the other hand, stated, "[students] would have liked a more explicit connection between course content and the activity of blogging." In addition, the challenge to keep students engaged in the activity was present. As the researcher indicated, certain implementation strategies for the activity need to be in place.

5th semster ITSers might be wondering the same thing. As we near the 1/2 point of the semester, you might ask yourself: Why are we blogging---again? Is it just a requirement for you? What benefits have you experienced and what challenges have you faced? Is blogging different for you this time around than it was in semester 1 and 2, and if so, how is it different?

A New ITS Semester 5

ITS that time again and I am revisiting my blog to join in the learning about blogs with 0911 ITSers. As we begin our exploration on using blogs and their value as an educational tool, here are some examples:

Josh Thom, 0810 ITSers presents his thoughts on a variety of educational topics: http://blog.celeritasforge.com/

Daniel Pink: http://www.danpink.com/

Will Richardson: http://weblogg-ed.com/

Bernie Dodge: http://webquest.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=bdodge

A List of Blogs by teachers: http://www.shambles.net/pages/staff/blogteach/

One feature of blogging software that I find most useful in a classroom situation is the ability to Follow a particular blogger. With a glance at my Dashboard I can check updates on blogs I am following. Be sure to check out this feature as you visit your colleague's blogs.

Blog of the Week?

We are well into ITS blogs 2010. As I start to read through all the blogs, I'm finding a variety of topics discussed in addition to the required class topics. This is terrific because it makes the reader excited to see what is coming next. Many of you take your thoughts and connect them back to ITS Web 2.0, tell stories that relate back to your practice and grad school, or simply find something related to education that is interesting to you.

I was cleaning out my email Inbox today and came across an email I received from Edublogs back in December, inviting me to vote for the best Blog of 2009. Since I had obviously missed my chance to vote, I went to the site and found the winners. Do you have a favorite among these?

Also, I was wondering what ITSer Blog post most interested you this week and why?

Blogs in the News

Michelle Simmons Robinson, Commerce ITSer, found a terrific and timely blog discussion on blogs. Be sure to check it out from her blog site!

Don't Like What You See?

Some ITSers have commented that they are not able to see their post upfront on their blog or that their comments are not viewed in the same way as in other blogs. Dave G. from Loudoun discovered that this is a layout issue and suggests that you revisit the templates and look at them closely in terms of how each presents the main blog posts and how comments are handled.

A feature that has been used in some of the blogs is one that allows the Blogger to approve comments before they are published. For those of you using this feature, what do you think about your choice to enable this feature?

First Week of Blog activity

Our 0709ITS blog adventure is well underway! I'm pleased to announce that everyone has initiated a blog and most are actively posting and commenting. One sentiment that has been shared among many when describing past blog reading experiences is that blogs can be very boring to read. Others have commented on the use of blogs as boring online journals. What is missing from these blogs? To me it is clear that a major consideration for blog writing is The Audience.
So one instructional benefit for using blogs is that blogs promote skills associated with writing for an audience. Be sure to check out all the pedagogical implications in Richardson's blog chapters. There are plenty more.

As you write your own blogs, be conscious of those techniques you've learned and hope to share with your students about how to write for an audience. Are you captivating your audiences? Check to see the quantity and quality of the comments you are receiving :)

Where has the time gone?

It has been two years since I've updated this blog! My initial intention was to journal my way through my quest to understand Web 2.0 tools. It's not like I haven't been learning about them. I read about them, used them, helped design a course about them, taught the course, and then studied the experience. The result? A fantastic article co-written with Priscilla and published in Computers in the Schools.

After experimenting with Wikis, Blogs, and Podcasts, I am now investigating Facebook and social networking. I recently came across an article that outlined the trends in Higher Education. One of those trends indicated an increase in student use of Facebook for classroom collaborations, creating a situation where the traditional Blackboard discussion boards are used less and less by students for discussing course issues.

When I created my Facebook account, I was given the option to connect to my school Blackboard site for the purpose of receiving course announcements in my Facebook account. Since I was creating the announcements in my Blackboard courses, I didn't see the value of it. But what about for students? How much time and energy do our graduate students spend on Facebook?

I could just ask them, but I think I'm going to 'friend' as many as I can. So far what I've learned is that I know a lot about my students that I never would have known before. I'm still exploring the notion that this information actually helps build my relationships with the students and has educational value.

In the 2nd Edition of Will Richardson's book, Blogs, Wikis, and Podcast, the is an addition to the chapter on Social networking that focuses on Twitter. I will add that tool on my list to learn about and better understand in terms of educational value.