Using a Blog in a Pre-Service Education

Course

Melanie Bishop

Education Program Coordinator

St. Charles Community College

(636) 922-8242

Objectives of this presentationParticipants will…

• Understand the many benefits of using a weblog for instructional purposes.

• Learn the implications of an action research study conducted at Lindenwood University regarding the topic of blog usage in a pre-service education course.

• Create a blog today that they can use in their classrooms next week.

Part 1

Benefits of using a blog for instructional purposes

Benefits of using a blog in the classroom

• Digital natives

• Discourse & Reflection

• Learning Tool

Digital Natives

• According to Prensky (2001), “The single biggest problem facing education today is that our digital immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population of digital natives that speaks an entirely new language” (p. 2).

Discourse & Reflection

• Writing – Phone – Virtual Communication

• Dickey (2004)– Supported emergence of community

• Harper (2005)– Supported idea of self-disclosure – “The

exchange of information pertaining to oneself that serves to enhance intimacy” (2005, p. 31).

• Hernandez-Ramos (2004) – Provided platform for reflective purposes

Learning Tool

“Learning is no longer primarily fixed in time and space, it can happen anytime and anywhere that we are connected…” (Richardson, 2006, p. 28).

• Poling (2005) – Encourage peer support

– Support reflection

– Extend learning outside classroom walls

– Increase quality of work

– Promote communication

• Langhorst (2007)– Podcasts

– Discuss a Civil War novel – invited other schools and author to participate

Part 2

Implications of action research study conducted at Lindenwood University

Overview of Action Research Study conducted at Lindenwood University

• Setting of the Study– Lindenwood University– Orientation to Education course

• Participants of the study– Melanie Bishop– Students– Outside Observer

Data Collection and Analysis

• Data Collection– Personal reflective field notes– Student questionnaires– Student focus groups– Student blog reflections– Student-written comments regarding class

sessions– Observations from an outside observer

• Data Analysis – Grounded Theory– Read data repeatedly– Created categories for coding– Coded– Noted patterns and emerging themes

Historical Context of Study

• How and why I began using a blog in the classroom

• The Action Plan– Course Design– Course Schedule– Course Content– Blog Topics and Implementation

This is a snapshot of the blog I used in my study.

Lessons Learned…

The blog was effective as it…

• Provided an opportunity for ALL to communicate and reflect

• Supported the information learned during class and from their practicum experience

• Enhanced student learning as they developed deeper insights into teaching

• Encouraged students to consider others’ viewpoints

• Kept instructor and students connected during the practicum weeks

“The blog gave us new ideas and made us be creative and view others’ viewpoints on different situations,” (student, personal communication, December 8, 2009).

The blog was ineffective as it …

• Did not engage students in meaningful discourse

• Did not motivate ALL students to participate

• Did not provide appropriate questions for students not placed

Challenges of Using a Blog

• Blog management• Time Consuming• Technical Skills• Large Class Sizes• Clunky Platform

Changes I made for the next cycle of action research…

• Changed topic for week one• Changed due date• Alternate questions for students not placed• Increased feedback

– Weekly email reminders– Monthly grade sheets– In-class discussions

• Studied alternative virtual interactive technologies– WebCT– Facebook– Twitter

Lessons I learned from action research

“Action research is about me and my journey, my thoughts, my fears, my hopes, my reactions to what happens in my classroom with the blog, etc.” (M. Bishop, Journal Entry, May 28, 2009).

• To believe in my professional opinion• To recognize the importance of critical

feedback• To view my students as sharers of

knowledge rather than empty vessels.

What one student thought…

“I feel like I have learned a lot in this class. I feel more confident in my decision to become a teacher and that is very valuable to me because for a while I really wasn’t sure. I feel like the job is much more professional than I ever considered it. It takes a lot to be a really effective teacher and it takes a person with real commitment to do it…. Even though I didn’t like it very much I also feel like I did learn from the blog. It provided good insight for me and it was cool to work together with others to come up with ideas on how to better teach. If someone has the desire to use it the blog can be a very effective tool” (Chad, personal communication, December 8, 2009).

Part 3

How to create a blog

Click this link to create your blog

Fill out all information on this page and click continue at the bottom of the screen

Give your blog a title and URL address. Be patient as you might have to keep trying to find a name and URL that are available.

Choose a template for the background of your blog. Click the circle under your template and then click the continue button.

You did it! Congrats – you now have a class blog! Click the “Start Blogging” arrow to begin the fun.

This is an extremely important step!

Under the “Settings” tab, look in the “Comments” folder. Make sure you allow any of your students to comment by selecting “Anyone” when asked who you want to allow to comment.

This is an extremely important step!Under the “Settings” tab, look in the “Comments” folder. Make sure you allow any of your students to comment by selecting “Anyone” when asked who you want to allow to comment.

Any time you want to add something to your blog, click the “Customize” link located at the top right of the screen.

To post a new topic, make sure you select the “Posting” tab. Give your posting a title and then type your posting. Don’t forget to select the “Publish Post” button or you will lose your posting.

Click either of the above links to view your blog with your new posting.

To post a comment to the blog, you and/or your students must click the link above. I wish this was in the shape of a button, but it is not. Some students will forget this step and will be unsure how to post their comment.

This is what your students will see. They will type their response in the box.

If you participate in the blog, type your response and click “Post Comment” and your comment will appear.

This is a reminder to make sure that you have fixed your settings to allow anyone to respond to your blog. If you do not complete this step, every student who does not have a google account will not be able to post to your blog.

This is an example of what a student will see when he/she is posting a comment. This is an important step to teach the students to avoid confusion and frustration. They must click the “Name/URL” option in the drop down menu.

This is what the students will see. They need to type in their first and last name. They leave the URL box blank. Then they select “Continue.”

This is the screen students will see after they fill out the Name/URL box.

Next, they select the “Post Comment” link.

For security purposes, students will have to verify the word they see on the screen. You can eliminate the Word verification requirement through the “Settings” tab under the “Comments” folder.

You get to this screen by selecting “Customize” in the upper right hand corner.

To disable the word verification, scroll down on this screen.

If you want to turn off the word verification, click the “No” option and always make sure you click “Save Settings” whenever you make a change.

• You have just learned how to post new topics and comment as the instructor.

• You have just learned how the students will post to the blog.

• Now, let’s add some fun stuff to your blog.

To add a YouTube link, website link, list, photo, etc. click the “Customize” link found in the top right of your screen.

Click the “Add a Gadget” link.

Scroll down to the “Link List” option. Select this option to add a website link for the students to view.

Give your link a title. Copy and paste your link and give the site a name. Then click the “Save” button.

Highlight the URL from the YouTube website, copy and paste it into this box. I always delete the http: that is already provided and I simply paste the URL directly from YouTube.

Here is the gadget you just added. To view the blog with your new YouTube link, click in either of the above links to see the blog.

Here is your YouTube link you just added. Students should be able to select the link and it will take them directly to your selected YouTube video.

To manage more than one blog, select the “Dashboard” link found in the upper right-hand corner of your screen.

Use when posting a new topic

Use if you need to edit an existing post

Use to change your settings

Use to add links, lists, pictures, etc.

Click this at any time you want to view the blog

Do not use

My tips for creating a blog

• You will learn by doing. • Explore.• Don’t be afraid to mess it up.• Use the www.mactebloggroup.blogspot.com as a

guide.• Click the “Help” button for assistance.• Email (mbishop@stchas.edu) or call me

(636.922.8242) with any questions. I mean it – I enjoying helping people with their blogs.

References• Blogger. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2010, from

http://www.blogger.com • Dickey, M. D. (2004). The impact of web-logs (blogs) on student

perceptions of isolation and alienation in a web-based distance-learning environment. Open Learning, 19(3), 279-291. doi: 10.1080/0268051042000280138

• Harper, V. (2005). The new student-teacher channel. Technology Horizons in Education, 33(3), 30-32. Retrieved October 18, 2008, from Wilson Web.

• Hernandez-Ramos, P. (2004). Blogs, Threaded Discussions Accentuate Constructivist Teaching (Rep. No. 24). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service)

• Langhorst, E. (2007). After the Bell, Beyond the Walls. Educational Leadership, 64(8), 74-77.

• Poling, C. (2005). Blog On: Building Communication and Collaboration Among Staff and Students. Learning and Leading with Technology, 32(6), 12-15. Retrieved January 02, 2010, from ERIC.

• Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved October, 2009, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp

• Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press.