Seírbhísí TF UCDUCD IT Services

Blogs as Reflective Learning Tools

Niall Watts

Educational Technology Officer

5th Annual Teaching & Learning Conference, NUIG, June 2007

Aims of Research

• Do students learn from blogging?– How to measure learning?– Reflection & Collaboration– Learning Style (Kolb)

• Active or Reflective• Individual or Collaborative

– Blogs promote reflective learning?

• Background to Research– Open University– Hype about new technologies– Little educational research– Methods criticism – student evaluations

Blogs in Web 2.0 Context

What is Reflection (Reflective Learning)?

• Reflection describes the processes where learners explore their experiences to gain a better understanding and appreciation of their learning (Boud, 1985).

• Many students find reflective learning difficult and initially resist it… Properly implemented blogs can help bring about reflective learning (Bartlett-Bragg, 2003).

Kolb’s Learning Styles

Based on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory– Accommodating: intuition, people– Assimilating: logic, theory– Converging: practice, technology– Diverging: imaginative, group work

Which would you expect to be reflective/collaborative ?

Reflection

• Assimilating

• Diverging

Collaboration

• Accommodating

• Diverging

Learning Styles Critique

• Valid & Reliable (Kolb)

• 71 theories of learning style. 13 major (Coffield)

• Doubts – usefulness & validity

Case Study

• Students using blogs for course work

• Multimedia & Communications

• Minimal scaffolding

• Develop critical writing and thinking skills

“Tool for creative thought perceived electronically”

Methods – Learning Style

• Student Consent

• Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory– Statements match a phase in Kolb’s Learning Cycle– Results plotted on graph– Students scored themselves– Discussion

Methods – Text Analysis

• Blog posts coded for reflection using heuristics (Hatton & Smith)

• Risk of subjectivity

• Writing categorised as reflective (or not):

Student Blogs

Student Blogs

Student Blogs

Methods – Collaboration

• Count number of comments made/received by classmates

• Count classmates listed as ‘Yahoo! Friends’

• Online community?

Methods – Triangulation

• Kember’s Questionnaire on Reflection– Agree/disagree 16 questions on their learning

• Blogging habits questionnaire (10 questions)– Do you enjoy blogging?– Does it help you to learn?– Do you/read comment on your classmates blogs?

Results – Blog Analysis

• One third of posts reflective

• One third of comments reflective

• 1 comment for 3 posts suggests collaboration

• Yahoo! Friends suggests online community

BLOG POSTS COMMENTS MADE RECEIVED

Total

Total Refl. Total Refl. Total Refl.

6 92 33 31 12 69 14

Results – Learning Style

Converging Learning Style dominant among bloggers:– Four keenest

bloggers – One non-blogger

Results – Reflective Learning

• Triangulation:– Kember’s & own questionnaire- Most students highly or somewhat reflective- All bloggers highly or somewhat reflective

Conclusions

• Bloggers reflective & collaborative learners

• Unexpected Result – Converging Learning Style– Not associated with Reflection or Collaboration– Skills with Hypermedia (Kolb)– Practical, hands-on

• Sample bias?– Students existing community– Teaching & learning practices– Lecturer well-known blogger

Questions