Edublog

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An edublog is a blog created for educational purposes. Edublogs archive and support student and teacher learning by facilitating reflection, questioning by self and others, collaboration [1] and by providing contexts for engaging in higher-order thinking. [2] [3] Edublogs proliferated when blogging architecture became more simplified and teachers perceived the instructional potential of blogs as an online resource. [1] The use of blogs has become popular in education institutions including public schools and colleges. [4] Blogs can be useful tools for sharing information and tips among co-workers, providing information for students, or keeping in contact with parents. Common examples include blogs written by or for teachers, blogs maintained for the purpose of classroom instruction, or blogs written about educational policy. Educators who blog are sometimes called edubloggers.

Contents

History

Weblogs have existed for close to two decades. However, it wasn't until the second half of the 1990s that weblogs began to grow in popularity. [5] In 1998, there were just a handful of sites of the type that are now identified as weblogs (so named by Jorn Barger in December 1997). [6] In 1999, there were 23 known weblogs, and Pitas http://www.pitas.com/, the first free build your own weblog tool, was launched. Also in 1999 weblogs changed from a mix of links, commentary, and thoughts, to short form journal entries. [5] An early recorded use of the term "edublog" can be traced to a webring called the Edublog WebRing [ permanent dead link ], founded on January 30, 2002. The new use of weblogs are largely interest driven and attract readers who have similar interests. [4] In 2004, there were an estimated 3 million blogs and as of July 2011, there are an estimated 164 million blogs. [7]

The Edublog Awards, the international and community based awards programme for the use of blogs and social media to support education, runs annually online across a range of platforms. The Awards were founded by James N. Farmer in 2004.

Uses

There are several uses of edublogs. [8] Some bloggers use their blogs as a learning journal or a knowledge log to gather relevant information and ideas, and communicate with other people. [1] [9] Some teachers use blogs to keep in contact with students' parents. [10] Some bloggers use blogs to record their own personal life, [11] and express emotions or feelings. [12] Some instructors use blogs as an instructional and assessment tool, [1] [13] and blogs can be used as a task management tool. [14] Blogs are used to teach individuals about writing for an audience as they can be made public, and blogging software makes it easier to create content for the Web without knowing much HTML. [15]

Educational blogs have also been used as an engagement and reflective assessment tool for Accounting students and can improve educational outcomes for Accounting students. [16]

Teachers can also use blogs to create a sense of community in their virtual classroom. Students can build and elaborate on what their classmates post. In addition, students and teachers can use Educational blogs for feedback. Students can pose questions and ask for help from their classmates. Educational blogs can be a safe space where they can communicate freely and learn from one another. Education blogs can also be used as an effective homework assignment; if the educator assigns homework. These blogs can be used to get the students excited to talk to one another about the content.

Teacher blogs

There are many teacher-related blogs on the internet where teachers can share information with one another. Teachers familiarize themselves with edublogs before implementing them with their students. [4] Many teachers share materials and ideas to meet the diverse needs of all learners in their classrooms. [17] Teachers can often rely on these sources to communicate with one another regarding any issues in education that they may be having, including classroom management techniques and policies. In this way, the blog often acts as a support system for teachers where they can access ideas, tools, and gain support and recognition from other professionals in their field. Weblogs can provide a forum for reading, writing and collaborating. [17] [18]

Edublogs can be used as instructional resources, in which teachers can post tips, explanations or samples to help students learn. [19] The use of blogs in the classroom allows both the teacher and student the ability to edit and add content at any time. [20] The ability for both the teacher and student to edit content allows for study to take place outside the classroom environment, since blogs can usually be accessed using the URL of the blog on any computer. Blogs increase exposure to other students from around the country or world, while improving writing and communication skills. Teachers are using blogs as a way to post important information such as homework, important dates, missed lessons, projects, discussion boards, and other useful classroom information that is accessible by all. [21] As noted, students can access this information from home, or from any computer that is connected to the Internet.

Edublogs are vital to remote and distance learning. Through the use of Edublogs, teachers can simulate classroom-like discussion all at the click of a button. Students in remote and distance learning classrooms can easily converse with one another as if they are in class with one another. Edublogs are essential for remote and distance learning and any classroom using a technological platform. Teachers and parents can also use blogs in order to communicate with one another. They can be used to post class announcements for parents or providing schedule reminders. [19] Connecting to a teacher's blog is also a convenient way for parents to find out daily assignments so that they can monitor their children's progress and understand classroom expectations.

Student blogging in the K-12 classroom

Student blogging describes students in Kindergarten to Grade 12 who are using blogs in some way in a formal classroom context. Blogs are digital platforms that provide students with a medium for sharing knowledge and experiences that go beyond the traditional means of reading and writing in classrooms. [22] [23] [24] Student blogging is a relative newcomer to the digital writing scene, and appears to have gained ground only in the past 7–8 years. [19] [25] [26] In the past 5 years, however, student blogging has become a relatively common phenomenon in classrooms around the world. [4] [27] This may be attributable to the increase in free blog hosting services that have adjustable privacy settings, and the opening up of school internet filters to a greater range of social media. [4] [28]

The use of blogs in education [29] gives students a global perspective. Teachers and students from different states, countries, and continents are able to collaborate on different projects and ideas. A classroom in China can collaborate with classrooms in Germany, Mexico, Australia, etc. with just a few clicks of a button. Learning through blogs allows students to take control of their own learning and steer it to their own needs. Students are able to see that opinions and even strategies vary based on location and culture. Children are all different, but a common thread of learning can unite them. The use of blogs in the classroom engages children in learning and using technological literacy that will help them in adulthood.

There has not been a significant amount of research conducted on K-12 students regarding the efficacy of edublogs in enhancing learning. However, anecdotal results discussed by educators have given a glimpse into their utility or promise. There is a general consensus that edublogs create many opportunities for collaborative learning, as well as enhance the ability to locate and reflect upon work. [30]

Common pedagogical uses

According to extant literature, students use blogging in classrooms for different purposes. Blogs are used to showcase individual student work by enabling them to publish texts, video clips, audio clips, maps, photos and other images, projects and suchlike in a potentially publicly accessible forum. [19] [22] [31] Proponents of student blogging argue that blogging can contribute directly to improved writing abilities and argue that classroom blogging can enable students to engage with audiences beyond their classroom walls by using blogs as personal journals, as diaries, for story writing, and for making editorial responses to news events. [19] [32] Researchers have also documented teachers using student blogging to promote creativity and self-expression. [31] [33]

Reasons for use

Some researchers claim that student blogs promote learning by providing opportunities for students to take more control of their learning and the content they engage. [31] [33] It is also claimed that student blogging intrinsically motivates students to become better readers and writers. [22] [23] [33] Other reasons for encouraging student blogging is that it enables them to form and practice proper and safe internet etiquette and demonstrate that they are able to use technology efficiently and professionally. It also helps students to become familiar with internet copyright laws and regulations, important skills for participants in today's internet community. Finally, participating in blogging allows students to showcase their work or projects with a larger audience and receive feedback from a variety of students and teacher globally.

Potential limitations/some criticisms

There is very little research on student blogging available. [22] That being said, there is a large amount of published anecdotal evidence regarding criticisms of student blogging or limitations in using blogging in classrooms. For example, commentators claim that student blogs often include uncorrected inaccuracies of information, [19] or can be used to instigate online bullying.[ citation needed ] Commentators also complain that student blogs are difficult to archive or index. [19]

Professional development blogs for teachers

Although there are many blogs that teachers can use in the classroom with their students, there is also a multitude of blogs that teachers can use for their own professional development. Such blogs include hints on ways to be a better teacher in a certain subject area such as music, mathematics, or ESL, blogs on educational theory, blogs on advice for new teachers, blogs on where to find free technology, and blogs on transforming education, for example. There is much that can be learned from blogs of other teaching professionals and the learning can be done anytime and anywhere. [34]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Educational software is a term used for any computer software which is made for an educational purpose. It encompasses different ranges from language learning software to classroom management software to reference software. The purpose of all this software is to make some part of education more effective and efficient.

Situated learning is a theory that explains an individual's acquisition of professional skills and includes research on apprenticeship into how legitimate peripheral participation leads to membership in a community of practice. Situated learning "takes as its focus the relationship between learning and the social situation in which it occurs".

Blended learning or hybrid learning, also known as technology-mediated instruction, web-enhanced instruction, or mixed-mode instruction, is an approach to education that combines online educational materials and opportunities for interaction online with physical place-based classroom methods.

Educational technology is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech," it often refers to the industry of companies that create educational technology. In EdTech Inc.: Selling, Automating and Globalizing Higher Education in the Digital Age, Tanner Mirrlees and Shahid Alvi (2019) argue "EdTech is no exception to industry ownership and market rules" and "define the EdTech industries as all the privately owned companies currently involved in the financing, production and distribution of commercial hardware, software, cultural goods, services and platforms for the educational market with the goal of turning a profit. Many of these companies are US-based and rapidly expanding into educational markets across North America, and increasingly growing all over the world."

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is a pedagogical approach wherein learning takes place via social interaction using a computer or through the Internet. This kind of learning is characterized by the sharing and construction of knowledge among participants using technology as their primary means of communication or as a common resource. CSCL can be implemented in online and classroom learning environments and can take place synchronously or asynchronously.

Podcasting refers to the creation and regular distribution of podcasts through the Internet. Podcasts, which can include audio, video, PDF, and ePub files, are subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device. Subscribers are then able to view, listen to, and transfer the episodes to a variety of media players, or podcatchers. Though similar to radio, there is no larger regulatory group or oversight with podcasts. Instead, podcasts simply consist of the creators and their listeners. As the technology gained popularity in the early 2000s, the uses of podcasting grew from simply the delivery of content to also creative and responsive purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Richardson (educator)</span>

Will Richardson is an author and speaker on educational technology. He has many published works, including the book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, and the edublog Weblogg-ed which he wrote from 2001 to 2011. Richardson is also active on the web; he has both a Twitter account and YouTube channel.

Mobile blogging is a method of publishing to a website or blog from a mobile phone or other handheld device. A moblog helps habitual bloggers to post write-ups directly from their phones even when on the move. Mobile blogging has been made possible by technological convergence, as bloggers have been able to write, record and upload different media all from a single, mobile device. At the height of its growth in 2006, mobile blogging experienced 70,000 blog creations a day and 29,100 blog posts an hour. Between 2006 and 2010, blogging among teens declined from 28% to 14%, while blogging among adults over 30 increased from 7% to 11%. However, the growing number of multi-platform blogging apps has increased mobile blogging popularity in recent years creating a brand new market that many celebrities, regular bloggers and specialists are utilizing to widen their social reach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James N. Farmer</span>

James Nicholas Farmer is founder and CEO of Incsub, which includes the WordPress related companies of WPMU DEV, WPMU.org, and Edublogs.org, the largest global weblog community for educators. Farmer is currently based in Australia, where he has been the Online Community Editor of The Age, and Lecturer in Education Design at Deakin University. Farmer's blog, Incorporated Subversion, has been a resource for educators involved with social media and online publishing since 2003.

The Edublog Awards were an annual, community based programme which recognised and celebrated excellent practice in the use of web blogs and social media to facilitate education. Entries were accepted from any country, in any language, from educators working with any age group or type of learner, including learner led initiatives. Nominations opened within categories in November of each year, with the Awards event taking place in December following a community vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mindomo</span>

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The Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement (IDEA.org) is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization working in the area of scientific and cultural literacy. The organization was established in 1998 and incorporated in 2002, and has collaborated with museums, schools, nonprofit organizations, and public service projects.

Social learning tools are tools used for pedagogical and andragogical purposes that utilize social software and/or social media in order to facilitate learning through interactions between individuals and systems. The idea of setting up "social learning tools" is to make education more convenient and widespread. It also allows an interaction between users and/or the software which can bring a different aspect to learning. People can acquire knowledge by distance learning tools, for instance, Facebook, Twitter, Khan Academy and so on. Social learning tools may mediate in formal or informal learning environments to help create connections between learners, instructors and information. These connections form dynamic knowledge networks. Social learning tools are used in schools for teaching/learning and in businesses for training. Within a school environment, the use of social learning tools can affect not only the user (student) but his/her caretaker as well as his/her instructor. It brings a different approach to the traditional way of learning which affects the student and his/her support circle. Companies also use social learning tools. They used them to improve knowledge transfer within departments and across teams. Businesses use a variety of these tools to create a social learning environment. They are also used in company settings to help improve team work, problem solving, and performance in stressful situations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computers in the classroom</span> The use of computers in school

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Online communication between home and school is the use of digital telecommunication to convey information and ideas between teachers, students, parents, and school administrators. As the use of e-mail and the internet becomes even more widespread, these tools become more valuable and useful in education for the purposes of increasing learning for students, and facilitating conversations between students, parents, and schools.

A virtual learning environment (VLE) in educational technology is a web-based platform for the digital aspects of courses of study, usually within educational institutions. They present resources, activities, and interactions within a course structure and provide for the different stages of assessment. VLEs also usually report on participation and have some level of integration with other institutional systems. In North America, VLEs are often referred to as Learning Management Systems (LMS).

Health blogs are niche blogs that cover health topics, events and/or related content of the health industry and the general community.

Social media in education is the practice of using social media platforms or technology to enhance the education of students. Social media is "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content". Social media platforms can be used to complete assignments or projects electronically. Students can benefit from engaging in activities that involve the use of computers and online platforms, as these opportunities can help them develop their skills in these areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital media in education</span>

Digital Media in education is measured by a person's ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and produce media content and communication in a variety of forms. These media may involve incorporating multiple digital softwares, devices, and platforms as a tool for learning. The use of digital media in education is growing rapidly in today's age, competing with books for the leading form of communication. This form of education is slowly combating the traditional forms of education that have been around for a long time. With the introduction of virtual education, there has been a need for more incorporation of new digital platforms in online classrooms.

References

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  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wang, Hong (2008). "Exploring Educational Use of Blogs in U.S. Education" (PDF). China Education Review. 5 (10): 35.
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  21. ↑ Churchill, D (2008). "Educational Applications of Web 2.0: Using Blogs to Support Teaching and Learning". British Journal of Educational Technology. 40 (1): 179–183. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2008.00865.x.
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  29. ↑ "www.examideas.com".
  30. ↑ Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and the Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
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  32. ↑ Farmer, James; Bragg Anne Bartlett (2005). "Blogs @ Anywhere: High Fidelity Online Communication" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-07-16.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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  34. ↑ Ferriter, B. (2009). Learning with blogs and wikis. Retrieved on 03/02/13, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb09/vol66/num05/Learning-with-Blogs-and-Wikis.aspx Archived 2010-07-23 at the Wayback Machine

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