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Blogs in pre-service teacher education:exploring the participation issueLiping Deng a & Allan H.K. Yuen ba Department of Education Studies , Hong Kong BaptistUniversity , Hong Kong SAR , Chinab Faculty of Education , The University of Hong Kong , Hong KongSAR , ChinaPublished online: 16 Jul 2013.
To cite this article: Liping Deng & Allan H.K. Yuen , Technology, Pedagogy and Education (2013):Blogs in pre-service teacher education: exploring the participation issue, Technology, Pedagogy andEducation, DOI: 10.1080/1475939X.2013.802990
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Blogs in pre-service teacher education: exploring the participationissue
Liping Denga* and Allan H.K. Yuenb
aDepartment of Education Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China;bFaculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
(Received 30 December 2011; final version received 8 August 2012)
Web 2.0 technologies characterised by user participation and sharing have beenused increasingly in academic environments. In such learning environments, itis critical to engage learners as active participants rather than passive consumersof online content. The present study attempts to conceptualise the participationissue central to blogs through examining the factors that hinder student teachersfrom writing academic blogs and exchanging comments. It presents two casesof implementing academic blogging where participation levels varied. Adoptingan exploratory case study approach, the study identified multiple inhibiting fac-tors in individual, social, pedagogical, and technological dimensions. Throughhighlighting a number of critical issues and pitfalls for educators, the study canenhance the exploitation of the pedagogical potential of blogs and increase userengagement in the process.
Keywords: blogs; participation; pre-service education
Introduction
The increased attention given to teacher communities in the contemporary literatureon teacher education has brought about a growing appreciation of peer support andinteraction (Rogers & Babinski, 2002). Numerous scholars and researchers (e.g.Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Vescio, Ross, & Adams, 2008) have underscored theimportance of collaboration and dialogue for teaching practice, school culture, andstudent learning. The advent of web-based technologies, in particular Web 2.0 tech-nologies in the past decade, has provided a new set of tools to support such com-munities. Blogs are often cited as a major player in the Web 2.0 wave wherein userparticipation and conversation take precedence over information presentation anddissemination (Brown & Adler, 2008). Also known as ‘social software’, the newgeneration of Web 2.0 technologies significantly lowers the barriers to online con-tent creation and participation, thus bringing forth a new web culture characterisedby openness, sharing, and collective intelligence (Harrison & Barthel, 2009; O’Reil-ly, 2007). This new culture fosters ‘deep changes’ in the structure of collaborationand underlines the importance of participation, engagement, and social interaction(Ma & Yuen, 2011; Tapscott & Williams, 2006). Within a learning environment
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 2013http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2013.802990
� 2013 Association for Information Technology in Teacher Education
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supported by Web 2.0 technologies, it is critical to engage learners as active partici-pants or co-producers rather than passive consumers of content.
Unfortunately, the participation issue central to Web 2.0 technologies has notreceived adequate research attention. This study, therefore, aims to explore thisissue by determining the factors that influenced the participation levels of twogroups of pre-service teachers (PSTs). Two cases of implementing academic blogswhere participation levels varied are presented. Academic blogs were used to sup-port two groups of pre-service student teachers when they became physically dis-persed during their field or external experiences. The study will highlight a numberof critical issues, conditions, and pitfalls which can benefit teacher educators andresearchers interested in implementing academic blogs, and in particular, in motivat-ing student participation.
Literature review
Over the past decade, blogging technology has matured into a mainstream onlinepublication vehicle (Wortham, 2007) and enjoyed exceptional popularity amongyoung people (Lenhart, Madden, Smith, & Macgill, 2007; Selwyn & Grant, 2009).In educational settings, blogs have attracted increasing attention among educatorsand researchers. The following review of related literature will begin with a briefoverview of the roles that blogs can play in teacher education, followed by imple-mentation issues in relation to academic blogs. Finally, the research gaps that thisstudy attempts to address will be highlighted.
Blogs in teacher education
In the context of teacher education, reflection has been regarded as a critical compo-nent of teaching practice (Schön, 1983; Zeichner, 1983), and journals have longbeen used as a means of enhancing reflection (Hiemstra, 2001). Blogs are claimedto surpass traditional journals as a socially reflective medium (Downes, 2004). Theytransform the process and outcome of reflection by connecting bloggers to a globalaudience and opening channels for feedback that may lead to deeper thinking andlearning (Ray & Coulter, 2008). Several studies have identified the positive effectsof blogging on the abilities of pre-service or in-service teachers to think reflectivelyand learn collaboratively. Ray and Coulter (2008) analysed the blogs of languagearts teachers in terms of the scope and depth of reflection and confirmed the affor-dances of blogs as reflective devices. Yang (2009), from an analysis of nearly 1000messages of pre-service teachers, also obtained empirical evidence of blogs facilitat-ing reflection. Stiler and Philleo (2003) replaced traditional journals with blogs astools for reflective writing among pre-service teachers. They evaluated blog entriesin terms of the depth of reflection and compared them with journal entries producedin previous semesters. The blogs turned out to be more analytic and evaluative thanjournal entries.
In addition to their affordances for reflective writing, blogs are also valued fortheir social capabilities. Makri and Kynigos (2007), analysing the content of theblog posts of mathematics teachers, found that blogs fostered social interaction andcognitive discourse. Similarly, Loving, Schroeder, Kang, Shimek, and Herbert(2007) examined the role of blogs in supporting a professional community consist-ing of intern teachers, mentors, and university faculty members. The results
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indicated that blogs could serve multiple roles in sharing resources and ideas,reflecting on practice, and networking. Wopereis, Sloep, and Poortman (2010) alsoreported that blogs were suitable tools for structured reflective writing and feedback.The student teachers in their study highly valued the opportunity afforded by blogsto read each other’s work, provide feedback, and learn from different perspectives.Through exploring the perceptions and activities of K–12 teacher bloggers, Ray andHocutt (2006) maintained that blogs served as an effective tool to engage teachersin timely reflection and communication with peers. Also focusing on practisingteachers, a study conducted by Luehmann and Tinelli (2008) confirmed that blogsfostered social interaction and networking that could contribute to teachers’ profes-sional learning and the development of professional identity.
Implementation issues
Generally speaking, the issues arising from the implementation of academic blogsare associated with users, pedagogical design, and the characteristics of bloggingtechnology. First, although online content creation using Web 2.0 technologies ispopular among adolescents (Hughes, 2009; Lenhart et al., 2007), the shift fromsocial blogging to blogging for academic purposes does not come automaticallyand easily (Andergassen, Behringer, Finlay, Gorra, & Moore, 2009). The move ofprivate journals into a public online space potentially makes blog authors vulnera-ble (Davies & Merchant, 2007), thus pushing some students out of their comfortzone (Farmer & Bartlett-Bragg, 2005), and raises concerns over privacy and/or ano-nymity (Stiler & Philleo, 2003). In their academic lives, students are used to closedsystems like course management systems, and thus may feel at a loss when usingsuch fluid and flexible tools as blogs (Burgess, 2006). Blogs tend to be process-ori-ented, and are therefore perceived as conducive to capturing learning progress as itunfolds over time (Davies & Merchant, 2009). This poses a challenge for studentswho are often task-focused and outcome-oriented (Kerawalla, Minocha, Kirkup, &Conole, 2008). One lesson that West, Wright, Gabbitas, and Graham (2006) drewfrom their experiences with academic blogs was that students needed to understandthe conceptual basis of blogs and their unique educational benefits. Knowing howto use the technology was not equivalent to knowing how to use it for learningpurposes.
In some cases, academic blogs fail to fulfil their promise due to pedagogicaldesign problems. Students, first and foremost, are in need of a clear focus and pur-pose in academic blogging (Brownstein & Klein, 2006). Insufficient support andstructure might also deter students from participation. Xie and Sharma (2005)reported that students felt lost and frustrated when given little structure and/orinstruction on how to blog and what to blog about. They suggested that a structuredand guided introduction to blogs might be conducive to more fruitful bloggingexperiences. West et al. (2006) also attributed low levels of reflective thinking anddiscourse to lack of structure in blogging tasks.
Additionally, a major problem reported by a number of studies is the breadthand depth of interactivity in the blogosphere. Often, the level of comment exchangeis below expectations (e.g. Deng & Yuen, 2011; Wopereis et al., 2010). Hall andDavison (2007) examined the content of first-level comments and found only one-fifth containing reflective elements. Xie, Ke, and Sharma (2008) conducted a studyfocusing on whether peer feedback in blogs resulted in enhanced reflection and
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learning among college students. Contrary to their expectations, students who wereinvolved in peer review via commenting on each other’s blogs turned out to be lessreflective than those who were not involved in the peer-review process.
The interactivity problem might be attributable to the asymmetrical interactivemechanism of blogging technology. Although interaction between bloggers andaudiences is possible, the conversation is usually directed, controlled, and managedby the bloggers themselves (Hall & Davison, 2007; Herring, Scheidt, Wright, &Bonus, 2005). In this sense, the quantity and level of feedback are limited andasymmetrical (Hsu, 2007; Nardi, Schiano, & Gumbrecht, 2004; Pachler & Daly,2009). Therefore, some scholars are sceptical about whether blogs can effectivelysupport dynamic interaction within learning communities (e.g. Deng & Yuen, 2011;Krause, 2004).
Research gap
Within the small body of literature on the use of blogs in teacher education, littleresearch attention has been paid to user experiences and perceptions (Kerawallaet al., 2008). It remains unclear how individual traits (Stefanone & Jang, 2007) andaudience (Nardi et al., 2004) affect the adoption and use of blogs. In pre-serviceteacher education settings, academic blogging is often included as an assessementcomponent (e.g. Yang, 2009), while the factors that facilitate or inhibit engagementin blogging are ignored or difficult to evaluate. There is a clear need to understandbetter the reasons behind participants’ engagement or disengagement in academicblogging activities. This study aims to contribute to this line of research by focusingon the question: what are the barriers that deter PSTs from academic blogging?Through empirical investigation, the study attempts to conceptualise the participa-tion issue central to Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs.
Methods
Yin (2009) suggested that exploratory case study is suitable for research topics witha limited knowledge base. In this light, this study adopted an exploratory case studyapproach and included two contrasting cases of PSTs (denoted as Class A and ClassB) majoring in English language education programmes in a comprehensive univer-sity in Hong Kong. The cases were purposefully selected on the basis of the mean-ingfulness of or the need for blogging activities (Merriam, 1998). The investigationwas conducted with Class A first and revealed that the lack of pre-existing socialrelationships posed a barrier to online participation. Hence Class B, with strongpre-existing social relationships, was selected as a contrasting case.
Class A consisted of 28 first-year students from the full-time PostgraduateDiploma in Education (PGDE) programme. Class B comprised 22 senior studentsfrom the Bachelor of Education programme. Although the two classes belonged totwo different programmes, the participants in both classes had a similar background.The majority of the PSTs in both classes had working experience before starting theprogramme. Classes A and B had the same instructor, who was responsible for oneof the core courses. The instructor was very interested in using new technology tosupport the PSTs when they were physically separated. Thus, academic blogs wereintroduced in a similar situation for both classes, yet the design of the bloggingactivities was a little different. As part of the curriculum requirement, Class A were
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participating in an eight-week immersion programme (IP) in Australia for acombination of school experience, language study, and cultural activities. The classwas split into four groups who were assigned to four universities in Australia. Themain purpose of blogging for Class A was to share IP experiences and maintainsocial interaction. For Class B, academic blogs were introduced during an eight-week teaching practice (TP) when the class became geographically dispersed intodifferent schools across Hong Kong. Given that reflection is essential to teachingpractice, blogs were employed to support the documentation and reflection of TPexperiences as well as to foster interaction among the PSTs. For both classes, theinstructor hoped that blogging could help students relieve their stress instead of rep-resenting another burden on them. Thus, the blogging activities were voluntary andmade open-ended and loosely structured.
Before introducing academic blogs into the agenda, questionnaires were distrib-uted among both classes to evaluate participants’ prior experiences with web-basedtechnologies. Twenty-eight PSTs in Class A and 19 in Class B completed thepaper-based questionnaires. Both groups were found to be rather sophisticated usersof technology: 82% of Class A and 91% of Class B were users of social network-ing websites such as Facebook. Blogging was rated as a commonly used medium,with 68% of both classes maintaining personal blogs. However, with the exceptionof one PST in Class B, neither group had used blogs for academic purposes.
Different blogging platforms were recommended to the two classes. For ClassA, Edublogs was suggested for those who were new to blogging on account of itsacademic orientation and more flexible functionalities. However, the PSTs were freeto set up their academic blogs on any blogging service of their choice. Trainingwas also provided to help the PSTs set up blogging accounts on Edublogs. Due tothe fact that Edublogs was not well received by Class A, we did not introduce anynew blogging platform for Class B, but let them stay with the blogging service(Xanga) that was familiar to them. A community blog was also constructed for eachclass as a central community space connecting students’ individual blogs. One ofthe researchers took the role of online facilitator, who was responsible for maintain-ing the community blogs, monitoring students’ blogging, and offering help whennecessary.
During the implementation of academic blogging, the researchers monitored thePSTs’ online activities closely and recorded them in research notes. The data con-cerning the PSTs’ perceptions and experiences were gathered through questionnairesand interviews. Another paper-based questionnaire was administered after the PSTshad returned from TP or IP. The post-experience questionnaires aimed to explorethe blogging practice and perceptions of the PSTs, as well as the factors that influ-enced their engagement with blogging. The questions were designed based onrelated literature, researchers’ observations, and the instructor’s comments. Forexample, the students were asked to rate their agreement with a list of factors thatinfluenced their interest in blogging. Included in the list were statements such as ‘Iam not sure what to write about’, based on the problem reported by Xie andSharma (2005); and ‘I prefer to use other media to interact with my peers’, basedon Tan (2006). Most questions were on a five-point Likert scale, with 1 indicatingstrong disagreement (SD) and 5 strong agreement (SA). Two experts in educationaltechnology and teacher education were invited to examine and critique the question-naires, and revisions were made based on their feedback. The number of respon-dents from both classes was 19 (68% in Class A, 86% in Class B). In the interests
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of clarity, the responses are organised into three categories (agree, neutral, disagree)in the later discussion on results.
Following the questionnaires, individual interviews were conducted in an effortto probe deeper into the PSTs’ perceptions and the reasons behind their participa-tion or non-participation. Six PSTs in Class A and eight in Class B either volun-teered or were purposefully selected for the individual interviews on the basis oftheir different levels of participation in blogging. The interviews lasted from 30 to45 minutes. The interview questions were a mix of general and open-ended ques-tions, specific questions based on interviewees’ blogging behaviours, and follow-upquestions arising out of the flow of conversation. Informal interviews were alsoconducted with the instructor to collect her views and reflection on the implementa-tion of the academic blogs. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analysedusing NVivo. An overarching coding tree was first constructed with each node rep-resenting a specific question or topic. Emerging themes from the data were thencoded as sub-nodes. The coding structure underwent continuous modification suchas merging, splitting, and adding new nodes during the analysis.
Results
The overall level of participation in academic blogging among Class A during theeight-week IP was rather disappointing. Although seven PSTs set up blog accountson Edublogs, only three (11%) wrote a total of 26 entries (see Table 1). Of thethree, one PST posted 20 blog entries, which accounted for 77% of the total output.The other two were much less productive, only contributing four and two entries,respectively. Unfortunately, none of these blogs attracted any comments from theirfellow students. The only comment received was from the facilitator. The participa-tion rate was better in Class B where 13 participants (59%) produced 75 blog postswith 62 comments in total. On average, the PSTs produced about six blog entriesand five comments. However, a wide variance existed in the level of participationacross the group. The most productive blogger in Class B wrote 34 entries, whilethere were six PSTs who wrote only one entry. The number of comments made perperson ranged from 0 to 15. Only 30 blog posts (40%) attracted comments. Amongthe 62 comments, 16 were from the facilitator, five from outsiders, and 19 werebloggers’ responses to comments received. The researchers also examined the con-tent of comments and observed that among the 19 comments from bloggers them-selves in Class B, 13 (68%) were categorised as social comments acknowledgingfeedback from others. Only six involved an exchange of thoughts.
Through data analysis, a number of factors that influenced blogging practicessurfaced and were categorised as individual, social, contextual, and technical. Thefollowing presentation of the results is organised accordingly.
Table 1. Blogging practices of two classes.
Bloggingstudents
Number of blogs Number of commentsN %
Class A 3 11 26 1Class B 13 59 75 62
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Individual factors
The results of the post-experience questionnaires summarised in Table 2 indicatethat one significant obstacle to blogging for both classes was lack of time. ThePSTs were nearly unanimous on this, with only one PST in Class B diverging fromtheir peers. The negative impact of preferences for other media was more salient inClass A, where 74% of respondents acknowledged that they preferred to use othermedia for peer interaction, and 69% were in favour of personal journals or personalblogs. The responses of Class B were evenly split, with 37% agreeing and 37% dis-agreeing that they preferred other media for peer interaction; 47% of respondents inClass B were in favour of writing personal blogs or journals, while the other 53%either disagreed with or were neutral in response to the statement. Moreover, 47%of respondents in Class A and 37% in Class B felt uncertain about what to write intheir academic blogs.
Echoing the questionnaire data, the interviewees also expressed their preferencesfor other media for documenting experiences and communicating with fellow PSTs.Some had personal blogs that served the purposes of documenting experiences andsharing with friends and family. Others opted to share feelings and sensitive issueswith close friends via MSN or phone.
In addition, some interviewees attributed their reluctance to blog to their person-ality and the open nature of blogging technology. One interviewee in Class Bremarked, ‘I am not used to expressing my emotions and feelings through wordsand in a public space.’ Another from Class B commented: ‘I am quite private aboutthings, especially when it’s me reflecting on my lesson, or my emotions about stu-dents, I am not comfortable broadcasting it to the whole world.’ One male PST inthe same class also confessed that he did not want to broadcast his problems forfear of exposing his vulnerability to the classmates.
The blogging behaviours were also closely associated with PSTs’ perceptions ofblogs. For some, blogs were regarded as more a broadcasting than a communicationtool. As one PST from Class A commented: ‘For me, blogging is like a one-waybroadcasting thing. It’s not a communication tool.’ Another PST from Class Bdescribed blogs as a ‘sounding board’, where she could ‘put stuff up there, like anexpression, and I don’t really need people to respond’. Meanwhile, the interactivemechanism of blogs was perceived to be different from that of discussion forums.
Table 2. Barriers to blogging in individual dimension.
Class A (N = 19) Class B (N = 19)
SA/A(%)
N(%)
D/SD(%)
Mean(min,max)
SA/A(%)
N(%)
D/SD(%)
Mean(min,max)
Don’t have time 89.5 10.5 0 4.21(3, 5)
89.5 5.3 5.3 4.32(2, 5)
Prefer other media forpeer interaction
73.7 21.1 5.3 4.21(2, 5)
36.8 26.3 36.8 3.00(1, 5)
Prefer writing personaljournals/blogs
68.5 10.5 21 3.58(1, 5)
47.4 26.3 26.3 3.16(1, 5)
Not sure what to write inacademic blogs
47.4 21.1 31.6 3.32(1, 5)
36.8 31.6 31.6 2.89(1, 4)
Note: SA = strongly agree; A = agree; N = neutral; D = disagree; SD = strongly disagree.
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One PST in Class A remarked that everyone could post questions and comments onforums, and ‘when you post, you talk to all the members in the community’. Incontrast, when replying to someone’s blogs, it was more like ‘talking to the persondirectly instead of talking to many’. In other words, the comment mechanism onblogs was perceived to be a one-to-one rather than a one-to-many mode of commu-nication. Furthermore, one PST in Class B showed reluctance to include trivialthings in his blogs: ‘I did want to share with other students, but it’s just too trivial… I don’t see why I should put them on the Net.’ This suggested that his percep-tions regarding what was appropriate or worthwhile to share via academic blogsalso influenced his motivation to blog.
The PSTs were asked for their views on the reasons for the limited amount ofinteractivity on the blogosphere. The interviewees admitted that they tended to com-ment only on the blog entries that they found interesting and/or relevant. Often,they did not respond simply because they did not have anything to say. Some didnot want to leave purely social comments, looking on them as superficial. More-over, it was considered time-consuming to comment on the blogs of others. As anasynchronous communication tool, blogging was regarded as a less effective way ofgetting feedback than face-to-face meetings or phone calls. Some PSTs wereassigned to placement schools in pairs, and those in the same school became TPpartners. As one PST in Class B remarked, ‘I have TP partners this year, very goodand supportive TP partners, so I can get instantaneous feedback and encouragementfrom them.’
Social factors
There were a number of social or community factors that affected the perceptionsof the PSTs and their level of engagement in blogging. Firstly, one of the main dif-ferences between the two classes under study concerned social relationships, whichbecame a major determinant for online participation. Having been together in thesame programme for over three years, Class B was already a close-knit group; 80%of respondents acknowledged in the post-TP questionnaire that they wrote blogs toshare ideas with peers. One PST in Class B also remarked, ‘the closer we are, themore willing we are to share our experience with other classmates’.
Class A, on the other hand, was a newly formed group with people who hadonly known each other for one month before leaving for the IP. In the interviews,both the PSTs and the instructor noted that the existing social connections withinthe group were not strong, which adversely influenced the level of online participa-tion. The instructor pointed out that as a new group, there were very few socialbonds and a limited sense of community at the time Class A left for the IP. Shecommented that the PSTs had not reached the point of identifying themselves asteachers and, hence, were not ready to think and reflect like professional teachers.Additionally, in an answer to one of the open-ended questions in the questionnaire,a PST in Class A wrote: ‘Only if I know people well enough I see a benefit in shar-ing my thoughts with them in blogs. Meaning: I would use blogging to sustainclose relationships rather than to establish them!’ In this sense, blogs were regardedas a vehicle for sustaining an existing community, not for establishing new socialconnections. Another community-level factor was the level of participation itself.The lack of online presence of other colleagues became a discouraging factor fornearly 58% of respondents in Class A and 37% in Class B (see Table 3).
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Additionally, the level of engagement in academic blogging was mediated bythe participants’ immediate physical context. When the social support availablefrom the local context was perceived to be adequate, the motivation to use aca-demic blogs for sharing and seeking help decreased. Class A went to four differentuniversities for their IP, and those in the same university had the same schedule forclasses and activities. Nearly 70% of the PSTs in Class A acknowledged that theyfrequently met their fellow students on campus. Thus, the ample opportunities forface-to-face interaction diminished their incentive to blog. Likewise, 53% of thePSTs in Class B felt that peer support available in their placement schools was ade-quate; therefore, they were less interested in sharing information and experiencesand seeking support through blogging.
Pedagogical design issues
The pedagogical design of blogging activities also exerted an influence on the moti-vation of the PSTs to engage in blogging. First, the overall purposes of academicblogging for the two classes were a little different. For Class A, the primary pur-pose was to document their IP experiences and promote social connections. Assuch, several PSTs indicated that they felt at a loss regarding what to write about intheir so-called academic blogs. For Class B, the blogging practice was more relatedto teaching practice and promoted as a vehicle for sharing, reflection, and keepingin touch with fellow students. The academic dimension of blogging practice – blog-ging for reflection – was highlighted for Class B. The post-TP questionnaire indi-cated that all blogging PSTs in Class B acknowledged the value of academic blogsas a means of self-reflection.
Furthermore, the voluntary nature of academic blogging was also perceived tobe problematic. In the questionnaires, 42% of Class A perceived the lack of assess-ment as a demotivating factor. The responses from Class B were more mixed, withone-third agreeing, one-third disagreeing, and the remainder neutral on the matter.The majority of interviewees acknowledged that being graded on blogging contribu-tions would certainly be an effective measure. One PST in Class A considered it‘the best way to make people more involved’, while another in Class B commented,‘if you make it too casual, nobody will do it’. At the same time, various concernswere expressed with regard to blogging on a ‘have-to’ basis. One PST cautionedagainst the problem of forced writing, since participants might not always havesomething important, interesting, or worthwhile to share or reflect on. Some were
Table 3. Barriers to blogging in social dimension.
Class A (N = 19) Class B (N = 19)
SA/A(%)
N(%)
D/SD(%)
Mean(min,max)
SA/A(%)
N(%)
D/SD(%)
Mean(min,max)
I have enough peersupport
68.4 21.1 10.5 3.89 (2, 5) 52.7 31.6 15.8 3.63 (1, 5)
Not many studentsparticipated
57.9 26.3 10.6 3.56 (1, 5) 36.8 26.3 31.6 3.00 (1, 4)
Note: SA = strongly agree; A = agree; N = neutral; D = disagree; SD = strongly disagree.
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against the idea of compulsory blogging due to their aversion to the pressure associ-ated with assignments and a concern over compromising the atmosphere of sponta-neous writing and casual sharing among peers.
Technological factors
The technological factors were mainly concerned with the accessibility of computersand networks and the perceived difficulty of blogging technology. For Class A, lim-ited access to computers and the internet was a major problem for 68% of the ques-tionnaire respondents (see Table 4). During the interviews, the PSTs in Class Amentioned that they only had access to computers and the internet on campus.Moreover, although only 11% of the questionnaire respondents in Class A indicatedthat they saw blogging technology as difficult to use, the issue of usability washighlighted by several interviewees. Several felt technically challenged when tryingout the new blog service. Edublogs posed a problem since it was new, and peopledid not know how it worked.
In the post-IP questionnaire, the PSTs in Class A were also asked to rate theirfrequency of use of other web-based media such as email, MSN, and Facebook ona 0 to 5 scale (0 = no use, 1 = almost never, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often,5 = always). Paradoxically, those who complained about the limited availability of
Figure 1. The frequency of online media usage. IM = Instant Messenger.
Table 4. Barriers to blogging in technological dimension.
Class A (N = 19) Class B (N = 19)
SA/A(%)
N(%)
D/SD(%)
Mean(min,max)
SA/A(%)
N(%)
D/SD(%)
Mean(min,max)
Limited access tocomputer or internet
68.4 10.5 21.1 3.95(1, 5)
31.6 31.6 36.8 2.89(1, 5)
Not comfortable withtechnology
10.6 26.3 63.1 2.26(1, 5)
0 31.6 68.4 1.95(1, 3)
Note: SA = strongly agree; A = agree; N = neutral; D = disagree; SD = strongly disagree.
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technological resources used Facebook (mean = 3.5), Instant Messenger (mean =3.7), and email (mean = 3.2) more often than blogs (mean = 1.2) (Figure 1). Thissuggests that access to computers and the internet might not have been a legitimateproblem; if this had truly been the case, all web-based activities should have beenaffected.
For Class B, technical issues were not perceived as major stumbling blocks. AsTable 4 indicates, none of the PSTs felt uncomfortable with blogging technology,yet 32% acknowledged the accessibility problems in terms of either finding a com-puter or getting online. However, many PSTs were not familiar with the idea of aca-demic blogging; as one commented, it had never occurred to him before the projectthat blogs could serve for academic purposes.
Discussion
This study presented two cases of PSTs using blogs that resulted in different levelsof participation. Class A had a considerably lower number of participants and blogentries than those of Class B. With only three blogging PSTs, the blogging outputof Class A was sporadic and failed to gain any momentum. For Class B, althoughthe overall number of blogging PSTs was higher, the levels of participation varieddrastically. Adopting a user-centred exploratory approach, the study revealed a widearray of individual, social, pedagogical, and technological factors (as framed inFigure 2). First and foremost, individual-related conditions or factors lay at the heartof the participation issue due to the individual ownership of blogs and the voluntarynature of academic blogging. We then conceptualised the individual use of blogs ascontextualised in a three-layer environment: (1) social environment: when blogs areused to support sharing and interaction within communities, the social conditionsand closeness of the groups inevitably become vital in mediating the level ofengagement; (2) pedagogical environment: when blogging is implemented in aformal educational setting, appropriate pedagogical design is needed to create afavourable learning environment; and (3) technological environment: the accessibil-ity of computer and networks as well as usability of platforms create a technologi-cal environment that could foster or hinder user participation. The followingdiscussion will elaborate on the above in more detail.
Individual
Social
Pedagogical
Technological
Figure 2. Conceptualising participation issues of academic blogging.
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Time, individual perceptions, and preferences
Among the factors at the individual dimension, time constraint was one of the prin-ciple barriers to blogging. A busy schedule combined with the voluntary nature ofblogging activities made it undesirable even impossible for many PSTs to accom-plish the blogging tasks. Furthermore, their perceptions of blogs and preferences forother media for either experience-documentation or interaction also had adverseeffects on participants’ motivation. This is consistent with Tan’s (2006) findings thatpersonal media preferences did interfere with student blogging.
Moreover, posting blogs in a public space could be an uncomfortable andunnerving experience for some PSTs who were not used to sharing their feelings orthoughts openly. As Luehmann (2008) noted, blogging not only demanded time andeffort, but also made teachers vulnerable on both personal and professional levels.In this sense, blogs inevitably disadvantaged PSTs who were more private anduncomfortable with self-disclosure, especially when it involved the exposure of neg-ative feelings or incompetence. Additionally, the reluctance of these PSTs to partici-pate in blogging might be attributed to their perceptions of the academic values ofblogs, including the qualities that constitute substantive content. Kerawalla et al.(2008) noted that some students felt they had nothing interesting or worthwhile tosay, and such perceptions impeded their online participation. Their findings werereinforced in this study by the PSTs who shied away from blogging out of a senseof having nothing appropriate to share.
Furthermore, there were a number of individual factors, perceptions, and behav-iours that also prevented the PSTs from interacting through commenting. First, per-ceptions of blogs and their inherent interactive mechanisms governed the PSTs’online behaviours. The PSTs showed their awareness of the asymmetrical form ofinteraction on the blogosphere (see Herring et al., 2005; Nardi et al., 2004). Theyperceived blogs as mainly a broadcasting vehicle and commenting on the blogs ofothers as addressing particular blog writers. Interaction through commenting wasconsidered ineffective for seeking immediate feedback, or solving pressing prob-lems. The PSTs preferred to use other synchronous media forms such as the tele-phone or MSN for such purposes. Second, it was also observed that only a fewblogging PSTs made the effort to pursue and sustain the conversations via com-ments. Most second-level comments from blog owners were of a purely social nat-ure. This might be due to the fact that although the majority of the PSTs werefamiliar with the functionalities of blogging technology, blogging for academic pur-poses was foreign to them.
Social environment and online presence
Other than the individual factors discussed above, social factors also played animportant role in mediating the motivation of the PSTs. Academic blogging failedto take off in Class A, at least in part due to the lack of established group cohesion.Trust is essential for people to disclose their inner thoughts and feelings(Andrusyszyn & Davie, 1997). In the absence of strong social relationships betweenthem and the trust such bonding begat, the PSTs were disinclined to socialiseonline, or to express themselves as individuals in a blogging context. The PSTs inClass B, by contrast, were well acquainted with each other and shared a strongsense of community. Social relationships were well established among classmates,
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which provided a culture of trust that facilitated the uptake of academic blogs. Inthis respect, other researchers have already identified the role of existing social rela-tionships in extending physical communities to online space (see Deng & Yuen,2007; Kavanaugh, Carroll, Rosson, Zin, & Reese, 2005). On the other hand, theavailability of peer contact and social support in the immediate physical settingmediated the interests of the PSTs in blogging. Some PSTs were satisfied with thelevel of peer communications and support available, and hence were less interestedin participating in academic blogs. That is to say, when the opportunities for sharingand social supports are abundant in one’s immediate physical proximity, interest inusing blogs as an additional or alternative channel for sharing and help-seekingwould seem to be undermined.
At the same time, the participation problem itself had negative repercussions onthe motivation of the PSTs to participate online, especially in the case of Class A.The level of online presence in the blogosphere – the sense of the presence of oth-ers in the same community – has to be shown through online postings. Given thelow participation rate in academic blogging, there were inadequate numbers of blog-gers online to create a critical mass at which an online community gathers its ownmomentum and thrives. It seemed a vicious cycle for Class A – an inadequate num-ber of blog entries led to less interest in blogging which, in turn, fed back into anever-diminishing level of online participation.
Pedagogical design and structure
The pedagogical design of blogging activities was another factor that accounted forthe low blogging participation among the PSTs. For Class A, blogs were mainlyused to support experiential documentation and social interaction, while reflectionas both an individual and social act was not purposefully integrated into the designof blogging activities. Without the reflective dimension, the line between personaland academic blogs became blurred, which left the PSTs struggling with where toset the boundaries, or what should be labelled academic. This led to confusion overwhat to blog about and, indeed, why to blog at all.
Another important issue regarding the pedagogical design is whether blogs shouldbe assessed. In much of the existing literature on educational blogging, student blogswere graded (e.g. Farmer, Yue, & Brooks, 2008; West et al., 2006). Academic blog-ging in this study was not formally assessed, and the PSTs showed mixed feelingstowards this. On one hand, they thought assessment would have been an effectivemeasure to ensure an acceptable level of participation. On the other, some felt thatmandatory blogging could jeopardise the atmosphere of free expression and informalsharing intrinsic to the blog mode of communication. This echoes the claim made byDownes (2004) that compulsory academic blogs were at odds with the spontaneousand authentic nature of blogging. Linking assessment with blogging might restrict theopportunities for PSTs to reveal their uncertainties or to explore their inner perplexityand misconceptions (Boud, 2001; Boud & Walker, 1998).
The question of whether academic blogging should be compulsory or voluntaryis certainly a dilemma. Blog entries submitted merely for the sake of obtainingmarks could dilute the overall quality and experiences of educational blogging(Williams & Jacobs, 2004). On the other hand, some scholars have shown thatcompulsory blogging activities can have value. Compulsory blogging, althoughsomewhat contrived and inauthentic, could foster reflective learning on the part of
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students (Hall & Davison, 2007). O’Donnell (2006) also observed that initialresistance and scepticism towards compulsory blogging were gradually mitigatedwith increased participation.
Technological accessibility and usability
As technology creates a space for a community to evolve, it also affected the levelof participation of the PSTs. Basically, the usability aspect of blogging technologydid not pose a major problem for the vast majority of the PSTs in either class.However, the accessibility of computer networks and the familiarity of the platformstill made a difference. Class A as a whole experienced rather serious accessibilityproblems during their stay overseas. That said, accessibility was not regarded as aninsurmountable problem since many PSTs still quite frequently used other com-puter-mediated communication tools such as Instant Messenger, emails, and Face-book (even those who acknowledged the difficulty of accessing computers andnetworks).
In general, the study participants found blogging technology convenient andeasy to use. However, different blogging platforms influenced the level of onlineparticipation in blogging. The introduction of Edublogs met with resistance becauseit was new, thus requiring learning on the part of the PSTs. Xanga was much moreacceptable for Class B as the class members were already accustomed to its inter-face and functionality.
Conclusion and implications
Our exploration into the participation issues of academic blogs is based on a con-viction that the affordances of blogs for teacher education as reported by a numberstudies (e.g. Deng & Yuen, 2011; Ray & Hocutt, 2006) are not to be realised auto-matically, but are contingent on a myriad of factors and conditions. The success ofacademic blogs, to a large extent, depends on users’ participation and on their sus-tained motivation. The participation problems in this study can be explained interms of individual PSTs’ characteristics, the level of social bonding of the classes,the pedagogical design of the blogging activities, and technological accessibility aswell as usability. We conceptualise individual characteristics and conditions at thecore of participation issues, which are seen as contextualised in a complex environ-ment comprising social, pedagogical, and technological dimensions.
The findings presented here have highlighted several issues to address anddilemmas to be resolved when using academic blogs in an educational context ingeneral and teacher education in particular. Firstly, efforts should be made toemphasise the cognitive attributes of academic blogging. Academic blogs are notjust about individuals ruminating on their feelings and socialising with othersonline; the primary purpose is to engage learners in reflective thinking and dis-course based on personal narratives. Secondly, linking blogging with assessment isarguably one of the most effective measures to involve the majority of students, ifnot all, since it is a fair generalisation that most students tend to be assessment-dri-ven and goal-oriented. However, it does not necessarily have to be a choice ofeither ‘to assess’ or ‘not to assess’. Academic blogging activities could be looselyconnected with assignments, just as they were in the case of Class B. Anyhow,more important than making academic blogs compulsory is to ensure that blogging
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activities are relevant, meaningful, and engaging. Thirdly, to mitigate user anxietiesor resistance, efforts can be made to provide a flexible blogging platform allowingfor a range of security settings: for example, ‘private’ (entries to be viewed only bythe blogger), ‘limited’ (accessible to friends or group members), and ‘public’(entries open to the whole web population).
More importantly, learners need to be compellingly persuaded and prepared topartake in the new genre of academic blogging. Our study points to a need to culti-vate a better understanding of the educational affordances of blogs, which is in linewith the conclusions of West et al. (2006). Today’s students are likely to be familiarwith the basics of blogging technology, or the interface of blog platforms, yet writ-ing blogs for academic purposes and as a dialogue might be a new adventure. Theyare in need of a nudge to engage consciously in critical thinking in the process ofwriting. To better exploit blogs as a social medium, students also need to be giventime and support to learn how to blog as a conversation, for example, how toengage an audience, solicit feedback, and sustain conversations surrounding theirblog posts. Lastly, when introducing a new technology or practice, efforts should bemade to lower the cost of participation. This study has shown that leading learnersinto unfamiliar territory increases participation cost, since time and effort have to beinvested in learning the new platform or technology.
The current study has its limitations. The researchers focused on students’ per-spectives as well as experiences, while the instructor’s voice was largely ignored. Inaddition, the selected two cases are highly contextualised, and thus, the findingsmight not be generalisable to other contexts. Nevertheless it is hoped that the practi-cal guidelines derived from our study might inform practitioners seeking to betteremploy blogs for pedagogical purposes and engage learners in the process.
Notes on contributorsDr Liping Deng is a research assistant professor at the Department of Education Studies,Hong Kong Baptist University. Her research interests center on social media in education,online community, online participation and motivation. She has been actively involved inseveral research projects on these themes and published more than 10 papers oninternational peer-reviewed journals including Computers & Education, Australasian Journalof Educational Technology.
Dr Allan H.K. Yuen is currently Associate Professor in Information and Technology Studiesand Director of the Centre for Information Technology in Education in the Faculty ofEducation, the University of Hong Kong. His primary research interests focus on technologyadoption and change in education, ICT in higher education, pedagogical innovations, socialand cultural aspects of ICT use, digital divide in education, and teacher education. Hepublished widely in books, book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers.
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