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Reading 9-THE USE OF WEBLOGS IN HIGHER EDUCATION:
BENEFITS AND BARRIERS,…
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WEBLOGS
ADVANTAGES
- Weblogs are easy to setup and administrate.
- Weblogs makes easier to publish all types of resources (text, images, video, etc.) to the Web when compared to traditional web publishing.
- Weblogs allow instant publishing with just one click.
- Weblogs can be updated easily.
- Weblogs have the ability to reach a large audience without losing information quality.
- 24/7 (anytime, anywhere) access to information.
- No special blogging software is needed to create a weblog.
- Instructor does not need to periodically request the learning logs to the students.
- Other technologies can be applied jointly.
WEBLOG TYPES, USES AND ADVANTAGES:
- Before stating the benefits and barriers of weblogs in HEIs, it is necessary to comprehend the main characteristics of weblogs.
- TYPES: First thing to be done is: address their nature. The proposed classification is based on two dimensions:
STYLE and CONTENT.
- STYLE, there are: the interactive weblogs and the closed weblogs.
- CONTENT: Merging the styles and the contents, some types are suggested: personal journal, links galores, interactive commentary, one-way commentary, hodge-podge,
There are many sorts of weblogs: personal topics, political/social/economic commentaries, information technology, etc.
USES
- Documenting one’s life.
- Providing commentary and opinions.
- Expressing deeply felt
emotions.
- Articulating ideas through writing.
- Forming and maintaining community forums.
These possible uses are analyzed in a two dimension space:
- Weblog (instructors or students) and
- For what (writing or reading)
Mernit proposes eight types of weblogs:
- The professional journalist.
- The non-traditional journalist.
- Bloggers focused on a specific theme.
- The education community.
- The self-expression/journaling crowd.
- The business/marketing/promotion community.
Classification according to the role:
- Instructor weblog.
- Student weblog.
Wagner proposes the use of weblogs as improved learning logs.Farrell discusses five ways of using weblogs in the classroom, each with their own pros and cons:
- Standard class web pages.
- Professor-written weblogs.
- Organization of in-class discussion.
- Organization of intensive seminars
- Requiring students to write their own weblogs.
A list of
possible uses:
- Improving writing skills.
- Encouraging reflective writing.
- Reading .
- Student weblogs for assessment.
- Sharing resources and ideas.
- Recording progress and process.
- Course administration, group work
BENEFITS AND BARRIERS
Users need to be aware of what are the main benefits and barriers that this kind of learning tool may bring to their classroom.
BENEFITS
- In HEIs is their use as e-learning tools.
This way, the teaching-learning process
can continue outside the classroom.
- Weblogs help create connections between students with diverse opinions and interests.
- Weblogs’ features make easier
sharing knowledge and information.
- Discussions in weblogs promote higher
levels of thinking.
- Collaborative weblogs support team work and group learning.
- Encourage informal
communication, creativity and self-expression.
- Accuracy of project outcomes increases due to the continuous flow of feedback.
MORE BENEFITS
- Teachers may benefit from the possibility of monitoring projects in real time.
- Final grading is faster and easier.
- For non-computer science students, weblogs provide the chance of learning about web page creation, hyper linking and other www topics.
- Is attractive in the sense that teens and college students, and people in general.
- Prepares students better for the current labor market.
- Improve coordination and allow interaction to a far greater extent.
- Different instructors and students from different parts can share a weblog and teach and learn together.
These are the most outstanding:
• Instructors may have difficulty in assessing student participation in the weblog.
- The use of technology- based tools may be another barrier.
- Even though most weblogs are hosted in public, learning weblogs should be hosted in private servers, so that they do not show neither advertisements nor banners.
- System administrators tend to be restrictive in installing new software.
- If the weblog is public, it may suffer troll infestations, people that intentionally try to cause
disruption by posting messages that are inflammatory
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