Instructional Blogging
Abstract: New technologies continue to hit the Internet with full force, and educators are quickly capitalizing on students’ interest with web tools, such as blogs to increase motivation and learning opportunities. Blogs (or weblogs) are used as collaborative spaces where students, teachers, and sometimes guests jointly build instructional content. In this exploratory study, perceptions of 34 classroom teachers on blogging as an educational activity are examined. Preliminary analyses reveal that blogs have great potential for meaningful classroom application. Common characteristics of educational blogging (writing an entry, reading other students’ blogs, posting of videos, or reading other student comments on one’s blog) are helpful in understanding concepts, and, can be an effective process of providing and receiving peer feedback. Nonetheless, the need for guidance regarding the process of peer interaction was noted. Lessons learned from the experience of these novice bloggers are discussed.
Presider: Paula Bigatel, Penn State University