Is blogging the same as discussion board activity?
Blogging and discussion boards are different. One of
the most obvious differences to me is ownership. A few days ago I created my
first blog and I am the owner and publisher. All of us in this class recently created
a blog, of which we are the owners. We however are not the owners of the
discussion board we used over the last two weeks. I as the owner can essentially edit, modify,
delete or discontinue my blog at anytime. Another difference between blogs and
discussion boards is accessibility. Shiang-Kwei, W., & Hui-Yin, H.
(2008) state “Content that students contribute to a class
discussion board is private and becomes inaccessible when the class is
finished. In contrast, the content on blogs can be accessed by every Internet
user” (p.82).
Pros and cons blogging brings to adult learners.
The pros of blogging are numerous. Learning from
others is a one pro of blogging. Lincoln (2007) described a situation in which
students from a Battle Creek, MI high school were involved in a blog with
senior citizens. The senior citizens provided insight and life lessons to the
high school students and ultimately the blog united many in the community and
gave them a voice they otherwise did not have. Santos (2011) used Facebook as a
teaching tool with her students to write about daily life and experiences.
Blogging creates access. A micro-blog application
such as Twitter gives accessibility to world leaders, actors, musicians and
athletes to normal everyday people.
In my opinion a con of blogging is often times
people will post rude or insensitive comments. The people that post these
comments often hide behind a fake name and often times are not held accountable
for their actions.
References
Lincoln,
M. (2007). All but her life. School Library Journal, 53(11), 52.
Santos, A. (2011). Blogs As A Learning
Space: Creating Text Of Talks. Contemporary Issues in Education Research,
4(6), 15-19.
Shiang-Kwei,
W., & Hui-Yin, H. (2008). Reflections on Using Blogs to Expand In-class
Discussion. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning,
52(3), 81-85.
I am so glad that you brought up micro-blogging! This platform is a definite game changer in my opinion. Not only do you have access to all of the celebrities and world leaders you mentioned, but the actual act of how news is delivered and absorbed has changed in a relatively short period of time. An example of this would be when the first word of the Boston Marathon bombing came not from a ‘Special Report’ break-in on TV, but regular individuals with firsthand accounts on the scene. On a smaller scale, a colleague of mine recently expressed her appreciation of Twitter as a means to communicate with professionals around the world. She is an academic librarian and wanted to contact someone in a similar position in Africa to discuss a potential project. She wasn’t having success reaching someone through traditional methods (i.e. phone calls, e-mails, etc.) so she posted her request on Twitter. Her colleagues re-tweeted her request and within a day, she had a contact for this project. It is just amazing! Zhao and Rosson (2009) mentioned the potential micro-blogging, particularly Twitter, would have on professional collaboration, and I think we are continuing to experience that growing impact today.
ReplyDeleteZhao, D., & Rosson, M. (2009). How and Why People Twitter: The Role that Micro-blogging Plays in Informal Communication at Work. Proceedings of the ACM 2009 International Conference on Supporting Group Work, 243-252.
Kent,
ReplyDeleteI like the angle in which you took this discussion, as I had not thought about the ownership aspect, as well as the fact that it is generally available long after a class has concluded (given the owner keeps it up and running).
Expanding on what you stated about accessibility, Martin (2014) states that students gain an increased exposure to quality content, which supports your example of students gaining knowledge directly from senior citizens in their community. He also stated that they may find content from a variety of sources and, through trial and error, will learn the difference between authoritative and non-authoritative sources (Martin, 2014).
In addition, it is so true what you mentioned regarding micro-blogging, as those venues such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram provide a direct link to individuals whom you would otherwise have limited to no chance of interfacing with otherwise.
Great posting overall and look forward to working with you this class!
Martin, L. (2014). Educational benefits of blogging. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/educational-benefits-blogging-27588.html
Kent,
ReplyDeleteI had very similar pros and cons. The biggest pro is control. Unfortunately today, we are loosing control over our lives due to the digital age. It is nice to see that developers of sites such as this are giving us some options to control content on the web.
There are still cons however. The number one con to me is even though we have the ability to block the majority of Internet viewers from content we do not want them to see, everything we put on the web is stored and still vulnerable to hackers, criminals and foreign governments.
Wow! I liked your comment "Twitter gives accessibility to world leaders, actors, musicians and athletes to normal everyday people". That's a great point about micro-blogging. I never thought about twitter in that way. I think the only issue is; Do you think the actual world leader, actor or athlete actually posts on the blog?
ReplyDeleteGary,
ReplyDeleteI have a Twitter account and though I do not post often, I do on occasion. There are at least four occasions where I posted a question or comment to a “celebrity” and received a response. Was it the celebrity or someone else that answered? I guess I will never know the answer to that question.
Kent
Kent,
ReplyDeleteI did not think about the tone of a blog until you mentioned how some people can be “rude and insensitive”. Great reminder that even though we are given the freedom to post whatever we want as the author and “owner” of the blog, it is not always beneficial to spout out whatever comes to our mind in a vulnerable moment because we might regret it later.
That thought took me to the importance of making sure what we post (and read from others for that matter) in an education course should also be valid and accurate (which is one reason, I’m sure, Dr. Kang specifies using a minimum amount of resources to support what we are expressing). Santos (2001) emphasizes the point that students who are aware of an audience other than the teacher make a point to write more credibly.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Santos, A.. (2011). Blogs As A Learning Space: Creating Text Of Talks. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 4(6), 15-19.
Kent,
ReplyDeleteI lost my last post that I attempted to post.
I am glad that you ended up in my group. I expect to learn a lot from you experience as a Knowledge Manager in the Army and blogging.
I completely agree with your assessment of the benefits of ownership of a blog site compared to a discussion board. The more I read about blogging and comparing it to my experience of working with message boards there is definitely advantages to blogging. The only down side I can see is not being able to control who gets on and being open to everyone.
I enjoyed reading your thoughts and they aligned with many of the thought of those online about the benefits of blogging. See Martin and Media (Retrieved 2014) article below. I started there and it took me to a wealth of other interesting articles on blogging and its use in business and education.
Martin, L., & Media, D. (n.d.). Educational Benefits of Blogging. Retrieved September 14, 2014, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/educational-benefits-blogging-27588.html