Педагогические науки/1. Дистанционное
образование в высшей школе
Шевель Ирина, студентка магистратуры
Тарнавская Т.В., к. пед.
наук, доцент, научный руководитель
Национальный университет биоресурсов и
природопользования Украины
BLOGOSPHERE
IN EDUTAINMENT
Blogs
are more and more attracting attention of educators as a learning web based
communication tool. One of them – Technorati – is a real-time search engine
which keeps track of the blogosphere. They report that there are approximately
75,000 blogs created on a daily basis. Bloggers reportedly make 1.2 million
posts daily, which equate to approximately 50,000 blog updates an hour [1].
These figures provide only one snapshot of the reality of what is going on in
the public domain of the blogosphere. Wikipedia defines a blog as a “discussion
or informational site published on the World Wide Web and consisting of
discrete entries (“posts”) typically displayed in reverse chronological order
[2]”.
Blogs
are personal journals where students and teachers can put their ideas on the
table for others. It can inform or invite responses back for discussion. They
are a platform to let others know about what you are doing such as projects.
Blogs also offer space to reflect over time about what you and other people are
learning. They serve so many purposes.
Ideally,
through blogs, people would create content and construct knowledge using the
wonders of these publishing tools that abound online. Yu-Chih Sun, Yu-jung
Chang (2012) [3] believe in the power of blogs to improve students' abilities
while learning a second language. However, blogging doesn't simply happen. The
word has been spread about the potential of blogging for the language
classroom, but there needs to be more than an idea to convince people that they
can really profit from this tool on the read/write Web. There are numerous
options for blogs, depending on the goals set for them. In the English as a
Foreign Language setting, one can find blogs for professional development,
class blogs, and students' individual blogs. In this sense, unleashing the
potential of blogs for language learning will be directly related to teachers'
understanding of the pedagogical benefits of such a tool, and the students' perception
of its value in their learning process.
Teachers
have been using blogs for many years, and their use of blogging appears
positioned for continued growth. Teachers use blogs to provide assignments to
students, to communicate with other teachers about classroom experiences, or
with other educators about the use of educational technologies, and for many
other purposes [4].
Blogs
imply conversations. And, for these conversations to happen, there first needs
to be a redefinition of the educator's presence and role in the blogging
classroom. Educators should be facilitating the process of establishing the
online conversations within oneself, among learners, with other teachers, and
possibly the world. Students will have to get used to the blogging experience
to learn how to properly answer posts, how to cite, and how to establish their
own blogging tone through their posts in such a way that they find their unique
channel of communication in the target language.
Blogging
lends itself to the content produced by the online communities in spaces in
which everybody in the process can follow what's happening in that particular
corner of the blogosphere. This means that concepts such as staying updated on
new content through RSS feed aggregators and the nuances of tagging become
essential elements that connect the learner's voices and engage them in
conversations [5].
Blogging
lets many more become engaged. Blogging can be a place where we can make
connections and dig deeper into how and what we are learning, both student and
teacher. Sharing these thoughts and discoveries with others builds networks of
learning that can cross continents. We get to toss our ideas out, have
reactions to them, receive suggestions to build upon them and many more become
involved in the process. It becomes more personalized and certainly more
meaningful. Students are creating meanings that make sense to them because they
are constructing them, not having pieces delivered to them that they just
repeat [3].
According
to [5] blogging:
·
helps students to find a voice
·
creates enthusiasm for writing and communications
·
engages students in conversation and learning
·
provides an opportunity to teach about responsible journalism
·
empowers students.
Blogging
promotes thinking skills. In order to establish a conversation, to encourage
people to comment on a certain topic, and to construct knowledge collectively,
students have to go beyond superficialities, posting entries that increase
reflection, analysis, discussion, and synthesis. Blogs give a teacher the
possibility to establish rapport with his/her students and to give a voice to each one of the learners.
Some students who were not ready to expose themselves in the face-to-face
communication in the classroom can become brilliant bloggers.
References
1. Sevelj, M. (2006) Blogs and learning. Retrieved from http://repository.openpolytechnic.ac.nz/handle/11072/628
2. Educational
Blogging. What Is a Blog? (2012) Retrieved from http://supportblogging.com/Educational+Blogging
3. Sun, Y., Chang, Y.
(2012) How do blogs help EFL students become academic writers through
collaborative dialogues // Language Learning & Technology, February 2012,
Volume 16, Number 1. Retrieved from http://internationalschoolsandict.wordpress.com/tag/blogs-and-esl-students/
4. Walsh, K. (2010)
Blogging In Education Today (a multipart series). Retrieved from http://www.emergingedtech.com/2010/08/blogging-in-education-today-a-multipart-series/
5. Arena, C.,
Jefferson, C.T. Blogging in the Language Classroom: It Doesn't "Simply
Happen" March 2008. –
Volume 11, Number 4. Retrieved from http://tesl-ej.org/ej44/a3.html