Work placement blogs to harness diverse learning experiences and foster a

community of practice

Dr. Julie Dunne

DIT

College of Science

Common to all placements

Community specific

Hospital specific

Hospital vs community

Hospital vs community

And others....

Previous assessment

Where do these experiences go?

experiences

So many missed opportunities for learning

• Sharing experiences

‘Assessment for learning, not of learning’

• Ongoing reflection, to turn experiences in learning

Community of Practice

• ‘Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly’ Wenger 2006

Fostering a COP when there is no personal contact

• In education, embedding online discussions Engage students in collaborative

learning Encourage deeper analysis and

critical thinking For reflection To support a community of practice To uncover the hidden curriculum

The blog groups

• Blogging groups of 3 - 5

• Mixed (community and hospital)

• Mostly self-assigned

Blog contents

• Private to class

• Individual blog

• 400 word (approx) on 4 prescribed dates about 2 months into most placements

• Instructions: describe reflect relatecomment and respond

Use of Webcourses to host blog

• Tutor feedback after first post encouraging description, reflection, and relating

experiences to theory not on the student’s performance in the

workplace as described by the blog All students could see all tutor comments First post not included in mark

• Peer feedback

Evaluation

• N=33

• Four point Likert rating scale [Strongly agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly disagree]

Results: Using the software

95 92

59

5 8

41

Agree Disagree

Results: Feelings towards blog posting

Enjoye

d writ

ing b

log

Anxiou

s (p

eer f

irst b

log)

Anxiou

s (le

ctur

er fir

st b

log)

Comfo

rtable

pos

ting

by th

e en

d

7659

7897

2441

223

Agree Disagree

Results: Feedback to improve blog

Lecturer feedback on

own blog

Lecturer feedback on peer blogs

Peer comments on my blog

Reading peer blogs

80

6964

97

20

3136

3

Agree Disagree

Results: Community of Practice

10074 84

026 16

Agree Disagree

Results: Learning and Performance

8868 63

1232 37

Agree Disagree

Preliminary Blog Statistics

Number of

student

participants

Total number

of blog posts

Instructor

comments

Average

number of

comments per

student

Most active

group

(comments/

students)

Least active

group

(comments/

student)

37 704 37 19 29 7

Comment quality

• Perception that comments less important than blogs

• Some were trivial and lacking empathy or reflection

• A rubric and more training and discussion required

Conclusion

• Blogs are very successful for fostering a Community of Practice for students on Work placement

• Mature students don’t have difficulty with this technology

• Students believed blogs should be retained for assessment of placement

More to do...

• More training so students develop and appreciate the power of reflection for learning and professional development

• A tailored rubric (highlighting commenting) for instruction and assessment

Acknowledgements

• DIT LTTC PD Dip teamFionnughla Kelly

• DIT E-Learning Summer SchoolTaking the pain and fear out of

technology for education

• Dr. Barry Ryan (@cbs_lecturer) (Fellowship partner and L&T soundboard)

Link to Webcourses

• https://dit.blackboard.com/webct/urw/lc5122011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct