chanced upon this MA research paper “Learning through Weblogs” in my google alert today, this research paper examined edublogs from a higher ed. students’ perspective. the abstract reads:
The study reported in this paper examines students’ perception of the use of weblogs as learning tools; it also explores evidence of learning within blog postings. Two Ryerson University courses in Information Technology Management that require students to use weblogs are taken as examples. Twenty-two students from these two courses participated in an online survey concerning their blogging experience. The participants had very good computer knowledge—most of them had previous experience using blogs. Most of them thought that building and maintaining a blog was an easy task. However, the research shows that students’ perception concerning the use of blogs as educational tools was neutral—students also perceived the impact of using blogs on their ability to learn the course material as neutral. The study shows a lack of clear communication between instructors and students, which could have had a negative impact on students’ learning experience. Furthermore, the study indicates that most students perceived the content they posted in a somewhat negative way. A content analysis performed on 22 blogs demonstrates that that the objectives of each course played a significant impact on the evidences of learning apparent in students’ blogs. Students in group B demonstrated more evidences of learning then students in group A. Overall, the study shows that the use of blogs as learning tool in university classrooms is promising. Providing students with clear goals, objectives and expectations could help them to build and maintain their blogs in a way that could be more beneficial to their learning experience.
the full paper in doc format can be downloaded here.
APA reference:
Gagné, C. & Fels, D. (2007). Learning through Weblogs. In G. Richards (Ed.), Proceedings of World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2007 (pp. 2518-2526). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
– a Singaporean teacher's storeroom 🖖
Wow! What teacher could ask for more..student’s responding to what works in the classroom. I am always asking my students to leave me feedback on what we do in the classroom and if it works for them or if they don’t find it helpful. It is so important, especially as teachers who teach through technology, to know if our students find the internet helpful in their learning.
I see the student’s point in this paper when they say “lack of clear communication between instructors and students, which could have had a negative impact on students’ learning experience.” I am taking some online classes to pursue my Masters in Technology, and I myself sometimes do feel a lack of a relationship between myself and my professor and sometimes I do feel that it is having a negative impact on my learning experience.
More students and teachers should respond to this blog!
Hi Chayna, thanks for dropping by. Yes, communication is important, and I guess you would have also experienced many professors/teachers who has low mastery of the art. In this study, the lack of communication “was an intentional omission” (p.36). Hence it really serves as a reminder to us all that without clear communication, any good intention (for e.g. engaging students in blogging) during instructions can just simply be a waste of time 🙂