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Addressing Critics
I have been having conversations with colleagues, and I am getting interesting feedback on the use of blogging for instruction. Several comments have been made dismissing edu-blogging as useful. Blogging has been referred to by some educators as “past news”, “a waste of time”, and “time-consuming”.
I would like to address these detractors, and the purpose of this blog post is to engage in a critical discussion on the promises and perils of the edu-blog.
I am not a proponent of grafting established, efficient methods of instruction into blogging activities, and heralding it as the universal method that replaces all other types of instruction. I am interested in identifying compelling reasons for what edu-blogging can be used for, how it can augment and enhance learning in entirely unique ways.
One educator complained about the screens and screens of text that needed to be scrolled through, the overload from the glut of ideas that did not pertain to the readers’ interests at all. Is this an objection about the use of blogs? Or was it indeed about the legitimate beef of being compelled (as part of a course) to weave through the half-digested thoughts of others? Perhaps the objection was the way a discussion activity that was better suited to a threaded forum was grafted into a blog? You have to comment on the original post, as well as to others’ comments, and do this in a timely, meaningful way. Not easy to do in a blogging application.
Sifting through and responding to the deluge of ideas is time-consuming, especially if unstructured. This is very true. But I consider this not so much a criticism of blogging than the consequence of poorly designed activities. One central principle for designing activities for instruction is: One should never waste a learner’s time.
As for blogging being a learning technology that belongs to the past, hmm, time will tell. But the issue that repeatedly emerges is whether learners want more control over their own ideas, and seek more ownership. The reluctance of students to “feel at home” within Content Management Systems makes blogs a compelling application for lifelong learners interested in cultivating a living voice that becomes a legacy, a roadmap of their learning journeys. I think more learners will prefer blogging, because it is easy to use, easy to set up, and easy to control ownership over.
Glenn Groulx
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Comments
Glenn,
You raise some important points. I will comment from my perspective as a high school teacher.
As to the effectiveness of blogs in the learning process, I have read many comments by teachers that any activity that engages students in the writing process is worthwhile. The ability to post writing on a blog and interact with others as they comment on your ideas is a valid learning exercise. It can empower students when they realize their opinions and ideas are important.
Some of the criticisms of blogging are valid. It can be demanding on time for the blogger, but the answer to that as a teacher is to structure blog post (guiding topics for discussion) and restricting the amount of comments (by number or time).
Furthermore, I think it should be said that blogging, like other web 2.0 tools, should match the learning outcomes. It would be an added benefit to use blogging as part of a portfolio that illustrated the learning history and progress of students.
Thanks for the arguments in these posts Glenn. I think they deserve more comment than you will get by restricting them to the 7 people in this class. of course it is your right to do so, but I wonder you don't open them at least to the me2u community- or the whole world?
You note the difference between blogs and threaded discussions. How does a teacher decide which is better to use?
Terry
Hi Thomas,
Thanks so much for your feedback.
"any activity that engages students in the writing process is worthwhile."
Is there anything unique to the blogging environment that makes it a unique, worthwhile writing activity? Does blogging require a different set of skills than other forms of process writing? Is blogging that different from regular journal writing using a pen and a notebook?
how much control is required to encourage blogging, and in what form? Is the very presence of control and the ability of a teacher to evaluate and give grades to a blogger's ideas contrary to the underlying ideas of free expression, which is what blogging represents?
Should blogging match learning outcomes? Or should learning outcomes match the writing process that blogging encourages?
Thomas, your ideas have led to more questions. Thank you for sharing!
Glenn
I think it is a matter of context. In a junior high classroom blogging control is important. I think some of the advocates for blogging in the high school system dismiss this concern too easily.
I think blogging to support writing skills has 2 important advantages: to motivate students to particpate (in many cases you are relating to them through tools they would find interesting to use given this generations adoption of technology in their everyday lives); and the ability to provide the peer collaboration that is a major benefit of social networking.
Hi again Thomas,
One common question I receive from adult learners taking literacy courses is: what does this task (blogging) have to do with me? How will this skill help me live my life?
I have to consider to what extent will adult learners transfer what is learned in a computer lab at the College to their everyday computer-related activities. When introducing blogging, I opt to start them off with a learning partnership between myself and the individual student. I comment on their work, and refer them to links they might be interested in, and provide guidance on what types of blogging tasks to engage in as art of the writing course. Control and safety are key concerns that never be dismissed, but be incorporated into the blogging process.
There seems to be an underlying concern that because learners do not see the relevance of blogging, it might not be a good idea to even begin without finding ways of giving them motivations external to them.
I would go out on a limb and address this by asserting that if blogging is presented to learners using external motivators, its pedagogical value is undermined. One cannot "get" others to be motivated to cultivate self-presence and cultivate their own voice using external factors. It is somethign that needs to be cultivated from within each individual.
Glenn