This blog is primarily to record my progress of research and thinking regarding the use of blogging for assessments, for the ECA component of the Open University course H809. This does not mean, however, that all material will be used for the ECA, nor is the intention to end the blog on completion of the course. It is anticipated that the blog will be a record of my progress as well as a depositary of resources, for possible future research in this area.
Being a great believer in recent widening participation strategies, particularly looking at the use of different assessment strategies to support the success of non traditional learners at HE level, I enrolled for this course with the intention of finding out more about blogs and wikis and to assess if the use of these could be 'doable' within professional management courses. Although I work as an Associate lecturer with the OU, am also currently employed at a management and business centre, where I am involved in CMI (Chartered Management Institute) and ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) courses. These classroom-based courses could offer opportunities to embed blogs and or wikis to enhance the student experience.
'If blogging is increasingly acceptable as a medium of communication, could these texts perhaps contribute to earning academic credits towards qualifications?'
As technology improves and social networking widens, blogging appears to be emerging in many spheres; from personal diaries and ‘family albums’, to special interest groups (both leisure activities and in a vocational/professional sense). So, to firstly clarify what blogging is, the simple answer of being a contraction of the word ‘web log’ is true; however, a range of definitions include -
A blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
…Blogs evolve around a certain subject, be it a personal blog where the "blogger" writes in first person, or a political blog, commentary on local news and so on. ...www.dottraffic.com/glossary/
…Web pages that work as a journal that our normally updated daily. Blogging sites can provide excellent information on many topics, although content can be subjective.www.le.ac.uk/webcentre/help/glossary.html
Like an online dairy. This can be about and be used for anything at all, it can be used for news, reviews, products etc for a business, organisation etc. This is great as it helps the user stay in touch with the website with new and up to date information.germworks.net/blog/2007/02/11/web-jargon-explained/
But why blog? One study (Nardi et al, 2004, available online at http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1031607. 1031643 ), which looked at this, proposed that there were three main types of blogs being created -
Personal online diary or journal formats
A source of information from and on other websites (known as ‘filters’)
A body of knowledge on particular subjects (I shall refer to these as ‘k-logs’)
It was noted that most blogs (70%) were of the personal journal type and that blogging was seen as a social activity. One issue I feel particularly relevant was the idea that
‘Bloggers desired readers, but wanted controlled interaction, not the fast-paced give-and take of face-to-face or media such as instant messaging’ (p223).
Nardi et al (2004) also suggested that bloggers were motivated to blog in order to
Update others on their lives
Express opinions to influence others
Seek other’s opinions and feedback
‘Think by writing’
Release emotional tension
It is the aspects of ‘thinking by writing’ and receiving feedback which are of greatest interest to me here.
These initial ideas form the basis of my first questions -
- Would learners engage with a blog facility for writing up their reflective practice?
- What technology and access issues would afford blogging as an embedded course component?
- Would blogs be a valid method of assessing learning outcomes?
