Blogs

Deadlines: 8 Jan 2010. **
 * Assignment One: Part One:

" **Investigate an e-learning tool, identifying the pedagogical implications of the tool and its practical educational applications and referencing relevant theory and literature to justify its potential as an educational tool".**

**What are blogs? ** Blog in its simplest form could be explained as a website with dated entries, presented in reverse chronological order and published on the internet. The word ‘blog’ is both a noun and a verb. People who maintain a blog are called bloggers. The act of posting to a blog is called blogging and the distributed, collective, and interlinked world of blogging is the blogosphere. 1.What are blogs? Another name for blogs is **Web 2.0 Teaching Tools.** It is a free online teaching and e-learning platform. Through this platform we share, collaborate and exchange ideas in ways that were not dreamed of a few years ago. Blog is an amazing socialization of the internet. It is a phrase used to describe a change in the way we use the internet.

Useful links for " what are blogs and how blogs work'? watch the following youtube content on blogs. Gives an idea of blogs.

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Educational potential of Blogs

Blogs could be used as a brainstorming tool and a resource of interlinking. Blogs can promote critical and analytical thinking. Blogs promote creative, intutive and associational thinking. Blogs can be used to promote analogical thinking. Potential for increased access and exposure to quality information. Blogs has the potential to promote combination of solitary and social interaction. While writing in blogs students can demonstrate critical thinking, take creative risks, and make sophisticated use of language. Blogs support student centred learning. Students are given an exercise or a problem to explore and discover a lifelong learning skill, motivating students, __(katz, 1999 cited in Zuhal,C. (2008).__

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** Practical educational applications of blogs **

Blogs support as a collaborative space for students to act as reviewers for course related materials. Blogs could also be used as on online gallery space for review of works, writings, etc. Opportunity to serve as a digital portfolio of students’ assignments and achievements. Blogs could be used by teachers to encourage reactions, reflections and ideas by commenting on students blogs. Blogs have the potential for development of a student portfolio work. Blogs or blogging is based on the socio-constructive philosophy.

The educational settings where the constructivist approach is applied, the learners are expected to take more responsibility and be more active because the cognitive process to learning requires the learner’s own efforts. Thus, constructivist learning atmospheres need to be set up in such a way that learners are in closer contact with their environment and, as a result, go through rich learning experiences. With the help of such learning atmospheres, the learners get the chance to test their prior knowledge, to correct inaccurate knowledge or replace old knowledge with new one (Yaşar, 1998. __cited in Zuhal, C. (2008).__

Student-centered educational environments are set up in such a way that they give students the chance to take the responsibility for organizing, analyzing and synthesizing knowledge, and consequently play a more active role in their own learning, (Means, 1994. __cited in Zuhal, C. (2008).__

Blogs are great tools for class interaction. Blogs can be networked and created by teachers and students to form a community of blogs where students in a single class or even all students on a given campus can each present their own findings and discoveries.  Additionally, blogs offer RSS (real simple syndication) feeds that allow anyone to “subscribe” to be notified when new blog posts become available. Comments connected to individual postings on the blog give the author the opportunity to receive feedback from visitors.


 * Pedagogical implications of blogs **

Blogs offer powerful opportunities for collaboration. They have created new social writing platform where free flow of ideas occur for maximum learning benefit. Through these technologies teachers could provide a natural context for learning. and developing writing skills

Although blog's very nature works as a catalyst to promote learning. Blogging is bridge to distance and online learning nevertheless could be used in traditional class room setting with equal or greater effect. It gives opportunities for intovertial students to participate without any barrier. Better learning outcomes, more creative and high quality over traditional, face to face courses. Blogs has the tendency to reduce the psychological barrier to enable them to express opinions freely. Teacher cover the material with the students. Blogs give the opportunity for students to uncover the material. Possibility of in depth discussion of topics. Improvement of metacognitive skills as self reflection and revision in learning though text based communication.  What literature is out there to support blogs in education field According to __(Lin et al., cited in Kim 2007__), some studies have revealed that blogs successfully contribute to student online engagement. Current students take advantage of blogs to enhance their study. For instance, students share their learning experiences and express their thoughts to the instructor and peers through course blogs ( maag, __cited in Kim 2007).__

Today's students become better able to communicate, discuss problems, or exchange ideas with peer students in more effective ways through the distance education systems (Ocker & Yaverbaum, __cited in Kim 2007).__<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: left;">

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<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%; text-align: center;">Audio blogs <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msoasciithemefont: minor-latin; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msobidilanguage: AR-SA; msobidithemefont: minor-bidi; msofareastfontfamily: Calibri; msofareastlanguage: EN-US; msofareastthemefont: minor-latin; msohansithemefont: minor-latin; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;"> Blogs are online diaries or journals. Audio blogs are blogs that consist of content that is presented largely in audio. Audio blogging is another form of blogging which uses voice instead of text blogging. Various ways of audio blogging are:

1. Phone blogging: Once registered with Audio blogging service by having an account. The blogger speaks and records the the message and it is displayed on the blogsite.

2. Phone blogging via PC recording using the paid service.

3. Horizon Wimba Voice Boards. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">

<span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 220%; text-align: center;">Video blogs

<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">Video blog also referred as a Vlog is blog that uses video as primary media source. There are many types of vlogs that are embedded with text and still images. Digital video software allows the bloggers to edit and integrate audio into their blogs. Video blogging is being presented as a new tool for teachers to attract inquisitive learners in the 21 st century. Modern tools like cameraphone, camcorder prove to be inexpensive tools to post a short clip or a video into blog posting.


 * Popularity of Blogs in the 21st Century **

The questions we need to ask is what kind of shift in thinking is required to support 21st century learners. Blogs explore our relationship to literature and literary theory in a rapidly changing world. By addressing shifts in thinking in more informal and personal manner, Blog is the place which creates a forum for dialogue and ideas between learners, educators and researchers which will translate into new practices in learning. These blog entries explore the shifting nature of research, and the role of researchers in the 21st century. As the blogs are shifting to the schooling in order to support learning that is relevant and meaningful in the 21 st century. Blogs offer ideas on how we can engage more people in shifting thinking about learning for the 21st century world.

**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">References: **

1. Audioblogging. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2 January 2010 from: <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Audioblogging&oldid=30433608 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 120%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';">2. Blogs community engagement. Retrieved 2 January 2010 from: []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">3.Kim. H, N (2007) The phenomenon of blogs and theretical model of blog us in educational contexts __Computer & Education__ (51) 3, 4. Video blog The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2 January 2010 from: []

5. Zuhal, C. (2008). Preferences on internet based learning __//Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education//__ //9// (4), 12

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