With blogging becoming an increasingly popular public
relations and marketing tactic amongst businesses the employment of blogging
into the tertiary programme seems only natural. I mean there really isn’t a
better example of this than the very subject ‘Globalisation and the Media’. To
be honest, I was sceptical at first at the idea of a weekly blog as a learning
platform. How could a reflection of my daily life be first of all in any way
interesting, and second of all have any relation to globalisation.
According to Robertson (2011), “the
educational affordances of blogs offer opportunities for students to become
self-directed learners in a supportive social environment” (p. 1628). This type of self-directed learning is
particularly important for off-campus students. Whether they are learning from
a rural environment, or working full time, or even studying abroad, blogging
has the ability to reduce costs, and increase interconnectivity amongst
students who are separated by distance.
I’ve done a few subjects off-campus
before, and I’ve always found them a bit of a struggle to keep on top of,
because the class contact is a constant reminder of the work you need to do. According
to Wassell (2008) blogging can be used “to continue discussion beyond the classroom, investigate current
multicultural research, discuss current issues, share information with students
in an online format. Additionally, technology can afford voice to individuals
who may not feel comfortable talking in a traditional classroom discussion” (p.
213).
I know for me talking
in class is a daunting task, what if you say the wrong thing? What if you sound
stupid? What if everyone laughs at you? The blogging world allows me to speak
my mind, in my own way, without the focus of a class full of eyes bearing down
on you.
REFERENCE:
Robertson, J. 2011 ‘The
educational affordances of blog for self-directed learning’, Computers and
Education, vol. 57, pp. 1628 – 1644
Wassell, B, & Crouch, C 2008, 'Fostering Connections Between Multicultural Education and Technology: Incorporating
Weblogs Into Preservice Teacher Education', Journal Of Technology &
Teacher Education, 16, 2, pp. 211-232, Education Research Complete, EBSCOhost
Hello, Interesting post, I relate highly to your comment at the start when you said how you were sceptical of the weekly blogging task, I was to, I had the exact same view but as it has turned out it is a good tool to learn. The referencing you have stated and quoted is great and fits in really well with this topic. I liked you own example in relation to off campus studying and how blogging can open up another sphere for discussion. The format of this blog is great and easy to read, well done.
ReplyDeleteHi, I enjoyed this post a lot, it is an interesting topic and something we (as students) should find relevant. I was also sceptical of the weekly blogging task because (a) I have never really read blogs or engaged with them before, (b) I was nervous about having my writing posted to such a public forum, and (c) thought it was a weird way of learning. However, now I do appreciate how it as a learning or assessment tool, and I much prefer writing a blog about topics that interest me rather than a boring essay about gloablisation that I don’t engage with.
ReplyDeleteI like how you touched on the idea of off campus learning and tied it into studying abroad (a truly globalised example). I also liked how you talked blogging and online learning as an alternative to class room discussion for voicing our opinions. It was nice to be able to relate to someone’s examples that have nothing to do with facebook or social media – very refreshing, thank You.
Shannon,
ReplyDeleteYour argument was valid and you used scholarly references, but in some places the language seemed a little too informal for a scholarly blog. Your points about blogging being a means of cost cutting in education were thoughtful it was good to see you using key terms like ‘increase connectivity’. Although it was good to see your personal take on blogging, I would have liked to see some other specific results of blogging or a reference to a case study (easily achieved through a few inserted links). I noticed you didn’t have the required image and could have stuck closer to the ‘concept, definition, exemplification, discussion’ format.
Hey Shannon!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your introduction that the idea of writing a blog post about blogging was quite bizarre! However doing this reading made me reflect on the tools that I was using, even though I may not have realised before. Doing a weekly blog definitely forces you to stay on top of the workload too.
I found your points about being an off-campus student interesting, as I am doing this unit off-campus and blogging is a great way to make sure you're on the right track and understanding the content properly.
I agree with a previous comment that the use of an image or other media source would have given this post another element and more depth, but otherwise well done.
- Andrea