Engaging Reflection: Blogs as an Instructional Strategy Elizabeth Reed Osika, PhD Assistant Professor, Technology and Education Chicago State University On the campuses of higher education institutions, many faculty members are seeing a shift in the quality and commitment of the students in their classrooms. Students who seem to be juggling a variety of other responsibilities do not seem to engage completely as needed with their courses. This is best summarized, as follows, by Quinn et al (2007) in her article Blogging Infusing engagement, enjoyment, and reflection into learning: A clear divide is becoming evident in higher education those students who engage with their studies and those who do not. Symptoms of disengagement include falling attendance, [silent discussions], and increasing plagiarism. Students choose to take superficial approaches to cope with the learning they need, have paid for, and often have to suffer through. They are easily distracted by the other pressures in their lives. There is little engagement, passion, or joy for the learner or for the teacher. Instructors are challenged to overcome this apparent divide through the creation of learning environments that not only engage students but challenge them to meet and exceed the objectives of the course, establish community, and foster course completion. This can seem a lofty task; however, with careful design and facilitation, one that can be and should be sought after. Impact of Reflection on the Learning Process One effective method instructors can use to positively impact the students learning process is to include reflection into the curriculum. Reflection within the curriculum involves a process of having the student record their experiences and then revisit them with the intent of refining their learning processes and strategies (Xie & Sharma, 2005). Through this process, students can actively engage with the content in an intensely personal way (Smith, 2008). Carl Rogers, as quoted in Smith (2008), took this a bit further by stating reflection is appropriate [for enhancing] self-discovery, [which] is the only learning which significantly influences behavior. Since reflection calls upon the students to determine the structure and sequence of their thought process, this activity allows them to construct their own knowledge; thus, fitting well within a constructivist philosophy (Xie & Sharma, 2005). However, reflection does not simply just happen. Dewey (1983) provides insight into the three attitudes he believed were necessary to facilitate successful reflection. These attitudes are 1) open-mindedness, 2) responsibility, and 3) wholeheartedness. With open-mindedness, students need to be able to receive and accept hearing the strengths and weaknesses of their own perspectives. The process of thinking through the consequences of one s actions in order to improve their knowledge and/or perceptions is the basis of the attitude of responsibility. The final attitude of wholeheartedness is simply the desire to learn something new through the reflection process (Smith, 2008). Through successfully setting the stage in terms of student perceptions and attitudes towards the reflection activity, instructors can effectively leverage reflection as an instructional strategy. This should provide an Copyright 2009 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System 1
effective way to personally engage the student in the learning process and even, possibly, make it something in which the students enjoy. In addition, instructors may even see an improvement in writing, reading, and communication skills (Borja, 2005). Reflection in an Online Course Environment Reflection as an instructional strategy has traditionally been accomplished through personal journaling in notebooks that would be handed into the teacher for grading or review. However, as instruction has moved online, different mechanisms for constructing a reflective process have become available to instructors. While discussion boards, chat rooms, and, more recently, wikis are tools that are often found in the online classroom to promote discussion and reflection among students, blogs have their own unique place and function within the online tool set. Even though all of the above tools allow individuals to publish their own thoughts and arguments, blogs is the only tool that provides postings that stand-alone and individualized. The other tools have postings that are typically interwoven in interpersonal discussions and build upon each other. Additionally, the course tools listed above are typically open to only the participants in the course, where blogs, by design, are available to anyone on the web (Xie, 2005). Blogging has quickly spread on the Internet and is making significant headway as an instructional tool in a variety of classroom settings from K-12 to higher education (Borja, 2005). One of the reasons for the quick adoption of blogs, in and out of the classroom, is probably due to the fact that creating a blog is relatively easy to accomplish, available to individuals for free, and is highly customizable with little to no knowledge of HTML (Borja, 2005; Wang, 2008). However, as eloquently stated by a Minnesota school teacher, Creating a blog is easy. Using it well and in a way that enhances learning is difficult (Borja, 2005). Therefore, instructors need to be aware of the positive and negative aspects of using blogs in the classroom. Some of these aspects, as outlined in the literature, are described below: Improved Writing Skills Simply by knowing that their writing is available to the public, students seem to have stronger motivation to write well so that the quality of their writing might shine (Wang, 2008). Increased Critical Thinking - Blogging allows students to see information from different points of view based on the comments received. In addition, they are able to think more critically about the content and connect it to their own experiences (Xie, 2005). Establishes a Sense of Community By using tools such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to follow fellow students blogs and using the comments to post feedback and suggestions, helps to build a sense of community where thoughts and ideas are shared and welcomed (Xie, 2005). Exploration and Experience with New Technology Depending on the student, this aspect could be seen as either very positive or very negative. If students were comfortable with technology, this instructional strategy provided them a method to learn something new (Xie, 2005). However, students who are more hesitant with technology may find learning to use the technology something that complicates and possibly interferes with their learning (Wang, 2008). Concerns Over Privacy Given that a blog is public in nature (although there are some blogging software that allows the user to limit the access to their blog), students have reported being concerned about posting private or personal thoughts regarding the content online (Wang, 2008) or receiving comments from anonymous or unknown individuals that seem attacking (Xie, 2005). Copyright 2009 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System 2
Increase Instructional Burden - Students may feel that the effort required to maintain a blog outweighs any benefit received from the exercise (Wang, 2008). Couple that with the increased pressure to create a post that will receive the desired grade and students may not have some of the basic attitudes outlined by Dewey to have a successful reflection experience. Improving the Instructional Use of Blogs As blogs continue to move into the instructional arena, the literature base is beginning to grow. One of the more recent articles provides insight into the five most common mistakes instructors make when using blogs in the classroom (Raynard, 2008). First, instructors often are ineffective in building the context for the use of blog with their students. Students need to understand why the assignment is being assigned, how it contributes to the course objectives, and how it fits into the flow of the class. Second, instructors need to be clear in the expected learning outcome from the use of the blog. Is the instructor asking students to analyze the recent content to see where it is similar or different than past concepts, where it connects to previous content, which elements need to be included in the student s specific learning process or is the instructor trying to have the students generate new ideas and connections based on what was presented, synthesize the how the new ideas were generated with past content, and apply this new knowledge to their own life experiences? Third, instructors need to be careful not to misuse the tool. Remember, blogs are not discussion tools. They are a one-way monologue of self posts to which others may comment, but not contribute (Raynard, 2008). If discussion is desired between students use a discussion board. Use a blog if you want to achieve a journaling or self-reflection response. The fourth area where instructors generally make mistakes is to provide illusive grading practices to the student. Students are concerned about how their postings will be graded; therefore, the instructor needs to be very clear as to what is expected and how grades will be earned. The following section will provide some ideas on how to create appropriate rubrics for blog activities. Finally, instructors need to be cognizant of the time that this type of activity involves, both from the student and a management perspective. Students new to blogs will take some time to get used to how the tool functions and what the expectations of the process include. However, if the tool is well situated into the course, once students become fluent it its use, they will continue to post and comment; thus, making a significant amount of text for the instructor to process and grade. While these five common mistakes have been found in the use of blogs in the classroom, there are several strategies instructors can use to improve the use of the tool in the classroom. One of the simplest is to offer training sessions to the students on how to use the tool, why it is being used, and how it will be graded (Smith, 2008; Wang, 2008). A second, and very critical, aspect is to provide prompts or questions to the students as a starter for their posts (Wang, 2008). However, it is important to remember that some prompts may be more stimulating to one student over another, so multiple prompts or questions may be desirable (Smith, 2008). Third, Wang (2008) found that students were more motivated to post if the instructor included some of their ideas into the content or lectures of the course. This allowed the student to see that what they wrote was important and relevant to the course. Finally, instructors who provided feedback that was quick and simple were seen as more meaningful and engaged than when more complete feedback was provided in a delayed fashion (Quinn, 2008). Copyright 2009 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System 3
Assessing Blogs As stated previously, providing a clear rubric on how the blogs will be graded has a significant impact on how well the blogging assignment is received by students. There are several rubrics online that instructors can use as a model for their courses; however, Smith (2008) and Reynard (2008) offer two suggestions. Smith (2008) offers the following suggestions for the different sections of the rubric. First, the depth of the student s thoughts can judged, followed by the completeness of the posting. Instructors can also evaluate the how well the student related the course concepts to their posting. Finally, mechanics, such as frequency of postings, clarity of writing, and relevancy of postings can be included. Since a posting is simply a compilation of statements, Reynard (2008) suggests evaluating the posting by the different types of statements it includes. The various types of statements she suggest includes 1) reflection statements, those that show the student is positioning their own thoughts along the concepts provided in the course; 2) commentary statements, where students are effectively using course content to build their discussion and analysis; 3) new idea statements, where students are synthesizing the content and taking it to a higher level of critical thinking; and, finally, 4) application statements, these statements that demonstrate the student is directly applying the new ideas generated to real life settings. Blogging as an instructional strategy is growing rapidly. While there is limited research on the specific use of the tool, the base of knowledge is increasing and will continue to do so as the tool is used and refined. From what can be seen from the results of the studies that have been posted to date is that blogs can have a positive impact on student learning, satisfaction, and engagement when used appropriately by the instructor and can be used successfully to replace the more traditional form of paper journaling. References Borha, R. (Dec. 14, 2005). Blogs Catching on as tool for instruction. Education Week, 25, 15, p. 1 and 17. Dewey, J. (1983). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking in the educative process. New York: D.C. Heath Quinn, D., Duff, A., Johnston, H., & Gursansky, D. (2007). Blogging Infusing engagement, enjoyment (joy) and reflection into learning, in Enhancing Higher Education, Theory and Scholarship, Proceedings of the 30 th HERDSA Annual Conference [CD-ROM], Adelaide, Australia, July 8 11. Smith, T. (2008). Reflective teaching. EBSCO Research Starters. EBSCO Publishing. Wang, S., & Hsua H. (2008) Reflection on using blogs to expand in-class discussion. TechTrends, 52, 3, 81 85. Xie, Y., & Sharma, P. (2005). Students' lived experience of using weblogs in a class: An exploratory study. Proceedings of the Annual Conference for the Association of Educational Communications and Technology. Chicago, IL [cited 24 October 2006]. Available from: http://eric.ed.gov/ericdocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/2b/c6/bc.pdf Copyright 2009 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System 4
Author Summary Elizabeth Reed Osika is an Assistant Professor in Chicago State University s College of Education. Her research focus is on the effective use of technology, especially distance learning technologies, in higher education. She has taught online classes for over four years. Prior to coming to CSU in 2006, Dr. Osika was the Director of User Services at Purdue University Calumet, where one of her responsibilities was to oversee the management and development of the distance learning programs and course management system. Elizabeth is dedicated to helping students succeed, both academically and personally. Address: College of Education, Department of Technology and Education Chicago State University 9501 S. King Drive, EDUC 203 Chicago, IL 60628-2598 Email: eosika@csu.edu Phone: 773-995-3749 Copyright 2009 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System 5