In this third part of the series on edublogging, I explore four case studies on the use of blogging for instruction. Overall, these case studies were disappointing. However, from these case studies, I recognized patterns, and drew some conclusions about what changes were required to make blogging more effective as an instructional tool.

In a survey of four recent case studies of how edu-blogging has been implemented for instruction, there

is lower demonstrated benefit for learners than anticipated. This gap between expectation and reality is

a commonly observed phenomenon. (O’Donnell, 2005).

In Gagne and Fels, (2007), student blogging activity was analyzed. There were few comments on students’

blogs by peers or instructors. 68% of students never received comments by instructors, 60% rarely

received comments from peers, and 40% never received comments from peers.  In this case, and equal

number of students (11) agreed and disagreed that they had learned anything from blogging.

In one course, the length of time assigned for blogging was two weeks, and the other group was

asked to blog for the entire course. Other than a requirement to post once a week, no other instructions

were given to students about what to blog. In this instance, students were neutral about edu-blogs

and its impact on learning.

The researchers concluded that having more involved instructors in the blogging process, as well as

providing clearer goals and objectives, and expectations to students, would help students use

their blogs more effectively for learning. In addition, the researchers recommended blogs be maintained

for longer duration (Gagne & Fels, 2007).

In Liang (2007), 41.3% of ESL students generally felt comfortable blogging in English.

Although 79.3% were comfortable with posting news summaries, almost half (48.3%) were

uncomfortable with reading and commenting on others students’ blog posts.

In some cases, the students were not provided with adequate structure nor rationale for using edu-blogs,

but allowed learners to make their own choices about what to blog about. In another case, students

were provided with guide questions to frame posts and comments.

For example, in Farmer, Yue, and Brooks, (2008), 30% of the grade was for twelve weeks of learners’

blog posts.  Guidelines on structure and content were minimal. They needed to post once a week,

and interact with others’ blogs through comments. They were assessed on frequency, consistency,

and knowledge of subject matter. Grades were awarded for “…active and respectful engagement with

the ideas and opinions of others…” (Farmer, Yue, and Brooks, 2008, pg.126).

In this case, students were offered support by instructors, and weekly F2F feedback sessions were held

for students to discuss issues or challenges of using blogs. Despite this, 20-25% of students had not been

blogging, or had not blogged as required. Thus, students were required to present to peers a snapshot

of their blog to encourage greater participation, used as “a motivating spur”

(Farmer, Yue, and Brooks, 2008, pg.126). Overall, 89.4% of students used blogs sufficient to meet the

criteria, and passed the exercise.

In Leslie and Murphy (2008), 266 blogs were created at the outset, but then only 77 blogs were selected

for evidence of interactive responses. Thus, of the 266 blogs, only 29% of these had at least one comment

attached to the posts. This group was further reduced to 47 blogs, then down again to just 9 blogs when

evaluated for both social presence and social construction of knowledge.  In effect, only 3% of the

bloggers demonstrated the characteristics the researchers were looking for.  The researchers explained that

there was little effort from students to continue conversation with one another, either though comments,

or replies to others’ ideas (Farmer, Yue, and Brooks, 2008).