For this week’s blogging assignment, we were asked two
questions:
Is blogging the same
as discussion board activity?
I do not believe blogging is the same thing as discussion
board activity for one main reason – ownership. Blogging is creating your own original content; it is your design, structure and rules and is
basically only limited by your imagination and skill. Discussion board activity
(usually attached to a main website) is more like adding your thoughts or ideas
onto someone else’s property, within the confines of their board. Discussion
boards often limit what content you can add to a post as well as what font and
colors, etc. you can use. Blogging lets you express yourself with unlimited backgrounds,
visuals, media, add-ons, etc.
What pros and cons do
you think blogging brings to adult learners?
Pros – One of the first pros I see is introducing a new
technology into the classroom, “A supplement to the traditional method of
teaching” (Santos
Cons – When using blogging in the classroom, King (2011) noted
that it can be a tough task to try and read all the blogs and comment and keep
the class on track; time management will be a critical factor if you do assign blogging as an assignment. The blogs are also open to the whole world (be careful with personal information); I can easily
imagine a stray comment leading the blogger down a different path then the
instructor had intended.
Overall, I see the pros vastly outweighing the cons
and I think blogging is a great educational tool for the adult learner.
King, K. & Cox, T. (2011). The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology. Charlotte , NC
Information Age Publishing.
Information Age Publishing.
Oravec, J. A. (2002). Bookmarking the world: Weblog
applications in education. Journal of
Adolescent &Adult Literacy, 45, 616-621.
You make a great point concerning ownership! I think that articulates the idea much better. Blogging, as you mentioned allows for personal creativity, but that goes back to ownership. It is my space to do as I please (and still meet the instructor's intent).
ReplyDeleteYou also mention the time investment. I agree here as well. Message board is at least grouped all together for ease of reading. Blogging requires multiple clicks to read everything and the author feels free to expound at will. Message board encourages more concise writing. I am trying out Google Reader with this project to see if it streamlines my organization with regards to the blogs. So far, I don't know that it makes much of a difference.
Thanks for the comments Vianne; I'll have to check out Google Reader for myself.
DeleteYou both have made great points about the pros and cons of blogging. Most notable is the time commitment needed by the instructor. As participants in this "experiment" or learning activity, we can see how much of a commitment it is. This class and activity gives us, especially those of us who are not currently educators, insight about why certain activities are utilized in adult learning. Having worked in the field of continuing medical education, as a meeting planner, I learned to follow instructions (per the accrediting body), without knowing - even questioning - why it was important to involve the learners in the process. I now understand why you should survey potential participants and how important the open Q&A sessions are, etc. These things allow the learning to be an active participant in the process - per Knowles theory of andragogy.
ReplyDeleteI very much agree Sonora, getting to know your learners and including them is so important. Thank you for your comments.
DeleteHi, what are the limits of Learner participation? I work in an organization that very much uses a performance standard that must be met by those who are being trained. While I guess I incorporate the target learner in the design and adapt to learner specific needs up to a point, there still seems to be limits in how much one can adjust to learner desires.
DeleteIs it possible to adjust to learner needs in a training versus education field? For example, like in the military?
Hi Dean! I completely empathize with the idea of time management being an issue with blogging. I spent two days perusing the information necessary to start my blog, but felt like I had nothing to show for it in the end. Sure, I completed the assignment and posted my comments, but others are probably spending an hour or less doing the same thing. It can be frustrating when things don't work the way they are supposed to work. For instance, I followed instructions for listing the other blogs I follow on my blog. They are still not showing up! Maybe I'll figure it out, maybe not. In any case, I will attempt to stay on the path the instructor intended. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHey Tonya,
DeleteHaha, you are not alone - don't feel like you're the only one that is having to spend a lot of time doing this assignment (I think a lot of us are - I know I am). With your creativity and love of writing, I wish you good luck staying on the path; haha, JK.
Hi Tonya and Dean. Just spent this afternoon finally figuring out that the list for fellow blogs was not on email but in a separate area. That is what a week with my parents does.
DeleteOkay, great comments. Technology is great if we know how to use it. Tonya, I think you are ahead of me for technology. I am not sure I see a difference for time management with respect to Blogs or online discussion boards. Both require constant attention to check and reply. What are some of the differences you both see?
Glen,
DeleteI think the biggest difference comes back to ownership. This is my blog so I have to keep checking to see if anyone has commented or if someone is spammimng and adding unwanted content; are the links and media still working (if I had any)? etc. A discussion board is one place, you can see at a glance who has commented or replied; everyone in the class has their own blog, so you have to visit each one to get everyones viewpoints and then again to check for a response if you commented, etc. If you are an instructor that gave a blogging assignment, you can see how your time commitment would add up.
Hi Dean. You alluded to blogging as an enabler for adding your own content. How? If it is in response to an instructor's question/criteria, how really different is it from a discussion board? The style of the font, etc is yes customizable but is that not just surface ownership?
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see how far we could push the limits of ownership.
Glen,
DeleteIn response to the ownership: I could put whatever I wanted to in the background, I could add some paid advertising (who knows what will pop up in those ads) or links to unsavory sites, i could invite everyone I know on facebook to pop in and comment, etc, etc. A discussion board is controlled by the site manager, like the one Dr. K uses; no one from outside our class can access or even look at the board.
I am kinda the late comer to the comments. Dean, I too, find reading blogs and then commenting to be time consuming. I think for academics I prefer discussion boards with everything in all one place. But, I think for reflection, a blog can be a great tool. I am just struggling to understand if blogging is applicable in all educational spheres.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insights and comments.