An Evaluation: “The use of a Blog as a learning tool”

I have been using this blog as a means of communication between myself and my fellow teacher candidates for sometime now and the first noticeable change that I have identified within myself, is a willingness and desire to quickly adapt to and embrace any sustainable changes in the area of communication with the world, especially changes in business communication.

While ‘Blogging’ has been around for a considerable amount of time since the inception of the Internet, it is unfortunately still not socially accepted as a source of trustworthy information. Karrer (2007) verifies, “most people have heard the term “blog,” but they often associate it with unreliable rogue sources of information. The reality is that blogging is a significant learning and networking tool that can help individuals, groups, and organizations learn in new and interesting ways”. Before exploring the use of Blogging sites such as Blogger, Wordpress etc, I was also reluctant to view Blog’s as a valid form of a learning tool. However just as there has been a change in my personal views, society also has seen a shift in attitude with the take up of millions of users worldwide registering and creating new profiles on Blogging sites and many other social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

While gathering both academic and non-academic material, I stumbled upon various quotes, which for me, are the epitome and summation of the notion of change and considering Blog’s as effective learning tools for students. “You can't expect to meet the challenges of today with yesterday's tools and expect to be in business tomorrow” – Author Anonymous. The concept behind this quote is particularly relevant, as my blog is based on the teaching of key business concepts within Victorian secondary school curriculum. 

The effective use of Personal Learning Environments such as Blogs is beginning to emerge as one of the most important changes in communication within academic communities. Chua, Hwanga, Tsaib and Chen (2009) studied the increasing accessibility of academic learning materials, especially those within a Web 2.0 environment. Embarking on their study lead this research team to develop their own innovative approach for promoting information exchanges and sharing in a Web 2.0-based learning environment. “The system is proven to be able to fulfill the need of the students and the teachers and also very helpful for enhancing students’ learning efficacy”. As a result, an intelligent blog system was developed to assist teachers in conducting group learning activities on the Internet.

In another study by Hanson (2011) the use of a Blog to promote communication, community awareness and further academic development was also evaluated. “Students used a blog to identify issues and problem solving scenarios. Blogs were a good tool to engage discussions…and peer-to-peer learning”. In this study, Hanson used raising awareness of community oral health issues to analyse the success of a blog as a personal learning environment for students. “Qualitative discourse analysis revealed evidence of critical thought and discourse throughout blog posts…Students felt blogging encouraged them to engage with one another. Twenty percent of participating students have extended their use of blogging for academic and personal purposes”.

To understand the factors of how a Blog may be used as a learning tool successfully, it is important to have knowledge in the values of modern day communication between young people. In my opinion; A sense of community, endless supplies of information and support and also instant social acceptance and a sense of social capital are some of the main reasons why social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are extremely successful modes of communication in young people. “Shared knowledge is an emergent product of discourse among individuals engaged in joint activity. Educators who want to encourage learners to engage in collaborative discourse have seen how Blog’s can enrich the learning experience for students, with Blogging, students are able to craft a thought and engage in discussion on topics in a way the traditional classroom setting does not allow” (Hanson 2011)

Blogging is also used widely in the world of Business and Enterprise. The creation of this Blog itself is a way to share teaching resources and develop the key business knowledge and skills of both teachers and students. It is important that students are aware of the different ways in which businesses may communicate both internally and externally and teachers should be drawing on as many resources as possible to demonstrate this to students. “Both IBM and Motorola have adopted blogging as an organizational tool. In both companies, thousands of employees write blogs. Some of them are used by work groups who find them helpful for information discovery, dissemination, and evaluation” (Karrer 2007). By understanding the use of a Blog as a critical tool for modern communication within businesses today’s, students will be able to enhance their understanding of overall business operations.

 

Changes in society are often met with great opposition by those who are reluctant to embrace the change and may find it daunting. Since the inception of the Internet, Blogging has emerged as a primary means of communication worldwide, utilising instant sharing of ideas and concepts. While the bulk of the different types of Blog’s are mainly used for non-academic purposes, this evaluation and reflection has shown some examples of how Blog’s are beginning to be used within the academic community as an acceptable form of information sharing and education of students. Changes in technology will also bring about changes to the way we communicate. As society changes, so to should the way in which we share information. It is important for the success of new age communication that educational institutions and teachers give academic accreditation to the use of Blog’s as a valuable learning tool.  A scholar who loves comfort is not fit to be called a scholar - Confucius, Chinese philosopher

References

Hanson, K. (2011) Innovations in Technology: Blog enabled Peer-to-peer learning. The Journal of Dental Hygiene. Vol 85. No 1. Pg 6 -12.

Karrer, T (2007) Learning and Networking with a Blog. American Society for Training and Development. September. Pg 20 – 22.

Chua, H. Hwanga, G. Tsaib, C and Chen, N (2009) An innovative approach for promoting information exchanges and sharing in a Web 2.0-based learning environment. Interactive Learning Environments. Vol. 17, No. 4, Pg 311–323