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The use of weblogs in higher education: benefits and barriers (Advantages,…
The use of weblogs in higher education: benefits and barriers
Weblogs types focusing on educational weblogs
Instructor weblog: weblogs written by instructors are mainly used as an additional
communication channel to share information with students.
Student weblog: weblogs written by students are basically learning weblogs or project
weblogs.
Uses
Faculty members use weblogs to post class announcements, syllabi, assignments, and more
in addition to offering students a forum for discussing class topics
Weblogs can extend conversations and discussions past the school day, linking to resources
and relevant materials
A weblog keeps records for TQM (Total Quality Management) policies in teaching
assessment.
Advantages
Weblogs allow instant publishing with just one click: weblogs are easy to create and maintain.
Weblogs can be updated easily, from anywhere without having to worry about FTP
connections, web authoring software, etc.
Weblogs makes easier to publish all types of resources (text, images, video, etc.) to the Web
when compared to traditional web publishing.
Instructor does not need to periodically request the learning logs to the students.
Weblogs are easy to setup and administrate in contrast to other technologies.
Benefits
Collaborative weblogs support team work and group learning.
Different instructors and students from different parts can share a weblog and teach and learn
together.
Weblogs’ features (linking, replying, and tracking) make easier sharing knowledge and
information.
In those courses where there are many instructors and students, weblogs improve
coordination and allow interaction to a far greater extent.
Barriers
The use of technology- based tools may be another barrier. It can be of a structural nature, for instance lack of computers, or difficult access to the Internet.
Even though most weblogs are hosted in public, free ASPs, learning weblogs should be hosted in private servers, so that they do not show neither advertisements nor banners
Instructors may have difficulty in assessing student participation in the weblog.
System administrators tend to be restrictive in installing new software.