The Issue of Blogging: Using Visual Network Analysis to Go beyond Self-Reporting Studies of Blogging

Given the increasingly prominent position of digital technologies in the Higher Education classroom, this paper takes a concurrent triangulation mixed method approach to explore the ways in which blogging might be used to support student learning through a large MA dissertation module, comprising st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of learning and teaching in digital age Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 10 - 24
Main Author Specht, Doug
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Journal of Learning and Teaching in Digital Age 01.08.2019
JOLTIDA
Subjects
Blogging
Communities of Practice
Community
Computer Software
Digital Learning
Electronic Publishing
Feedback (Response)
Foreign Countries
Graduate Students
Learning Processes
Masters Programs
Masters Theses
Metacognition
Network Analysis
Social Networks
Student Attitudes
Student Surveys
Teacher Role
Teaching Methods
Technology Enhanced Learning
Visual Aids
Writing Processes
United Kingdom
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Summary:Given the increasingly prominent position of digital technologies in the Higher Education classroom, this paper takes a concurrent triangulation mixed method approach to explore the ways in which blogging might be used to support student learning through a large MA dissertation module, comprising students from five courses. Taking as it impetuous the idea that blogging can create a community to support students in the writing of their own dissertation. The research saw 179 students invited to undertake blogging over a 10-week period, with proscribed activities for eight of these weeks. The networks built by students were modelled through Gephi, and this data was supplemented with two surveys carried out before and following the module. The results showed a mild trend towards the blogs not producing a community, nor creating an environment in which self-reflective practice was forthcoming. The role of the teacher also appeared to become solidified as the sole motivating factor, leading to a low uptake in posting on the blog, and even lower in commenting. The work also highlights the two-fold issue of students being fearful of giving negative, coupled with the sense that peer feedback was not worth as much as staff feedback, significantly reduced the development of the community, and of critical thinking. The work concludes that while blogs might have some potential, this case demonstrates that they need to be more deeply embedded within the pedagogy of the course, and not used as an 'add-on'.
ISSN:2458-8350
2458-8350