learning-centred blogs
DESCRIPTION
There is now increasing interest among educators in schools and universities in engaging learners through the use of web logs (blogs). Learners can easily articulate questions and also publish their learning experiences and reflections. Moreover, blogs have great potential to facilitate collaboration and peer interactions, so that they become a breeding ground for the development of an effective learning community. However, learners tend to use blogs mostly for entertainment purposes. This paper will discuss how some educators design structured learning tasks and ways to motivate learners to participate in course-based blogs.TRANSCRIPT
Learning-centred blogs
Dr Paula HodgsonContact: [email protected]
Faculty of EducationUniversity of Hong Kong
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Web log
“A [we]blog is a frequently updated website, organized in a diary form with individual [reverse] chronologically ordered entries or posts.”
Tosh and Werdmuller 2004
Blog for social networking
Potential uses of blogs
• Social networking
• Entertainment
• Learning-focused logs–Course-based blogs
–Community-based blogs
Learning activities
Lectures / tutorialsPlacement
Online activities in LMS and blogs
Source: Dora Wong (PolyU, English)
Coursed-based Learning Tasks in Blogs
Based on the intended outcomes of the course, students can be organized to
• Read/report/comment real cases through RSS feeds
• Do writing exercise• Reflect on critical incidents in the
workplace• Discuss some hot topics
• …
Source: Dora Wong (PolyU, English)
Reading real cases through RSS feeds
Source: Dr Pamela Kwok (HKCC, Marketing)
Reporting/commenting onreal cases
Source: Dora Wong (PolyU, English)
Writing exercise
Reflecting on critical incidents in the workplace
Source: Kitty Chan (PolyU, Sch of Nursing)
Source: Dr Pamela Kwok (HKCC, Marketing)
Topical discussion
Coursed-based Learning Tasks in Blogs
• Read/report/comment real cases through RSS feeds
• Do writing exercise
• Reflect on critical incidents in the workplace
• Discuss some hot topics
Community-based Blogs
Reflection through blogging community
Source: Paul Penfold, Creamy Kong (PolyU, SHTM)
Individual blog in the community-based blog
Source: Paul Penfold, Creamy Kong (PolyU, SHTM)
Peer feedback through blogs
Variety of community-based blogs
• Type 1: One-stop / All-in-one blog
(open year-round for a programme)
• Type 2: Course-based + group blogs [open/private]
(course-bound)
• Type 3: Course-based + individual private blogs [open/private]
(course-bound; year-round for individuals)
• Type 4: Teacher blog + blog exemplars
Implementing blogs for L&T
• Blog orientation on technical aspect– In-class demonstration– Online demonstration
• Learning tasks to acquire the intended learning outcomes – when, what, how
• Assessment tasks– Assessment criteria– Self-/peer- assessment
Learning opportunitiesin blogs
• Archived postings / comments– Self-learning: current cohort read
archived activities
– Learning tasks: current cohort reviewed some archived activities
• Current RSS feeds
• ‘Up-to-the-minute posts’
Conclusion
Educators need to:
1. plan thoughtfully how to maximize the features and potential that blogs can offer;
2. set clear guideline and instructions on how learners can contribute constructively and how their work is to be assessed;
3. create a supportive learning culture that facilitates learning between peers and with educators in the learning community; and
4. reflect on the learning experience of the course and across courses.
