The principal use of blogs in education seems to be as an online learning journal, a place for reflection and the evolution of a student’s thoughts on some concept, topic, problem, etc. The twist is that it’s public and open to comment. The idea is that someone else might have something to say to help you take your thinking a step further. The idea of a study journal isn’t new, but the idea of keeping one in dynamic form which others can also read and even comment on is …
If each member of class has a blog, then in fact, you’d have your own little community of bloggers, and the instructor could be placed at its head, as chief instigator, facilitator, intermediary, etc. In an ideal world, where all students valued learning and were capable of self-direction, then you probably wouldn’t even need the instructor. In real life the instructor is a necessity, if he or she wants to use blogs as a tool in a given course to further his or her own ends as an instructor (meaning, it should satisfy the educational aims he or she has in mind). In practice then, it’s more likely instructor-directed.
Even if it’s instructor directed, then the question still remains, does it really work? Are the results what you should hope or expect? The answers seem to be mixed. I suppose it depends on how well the instructor has organized everything and guided his or her students in the most effective and interesting use of the blogs. It very probably depends on the subject and field of study as well. Some subjects just lend themselves to independent thinking and self-expression, others don’t.
The article by Kieslinger and Pata made mention of a number of shortcomings encountered in practice: e.g., they noticed a tendency among students to copy and paste instead of reflecting and developing their own thinking. Their conclusion: the use of PLEs cannot be effective until students change their understanding of what it means to learn (particularly, in this type of social context) and facilitators learn how to provide more effective guidance.
On the technical side, the blogs could be pooled together using an aggregator, such as pageflakes. This makes it possible to keep track of all the blogs in one place. It makes it easier for both the instructor and students to learn of new postings, etc.
Social networking sites can be made use of as a group environment, where group work can be organized as well as carried out, using other social software like blogs. You can even create your very own social networking site using Ning. It’s a nice idea in theory. That same article by Kieslinger and Pata also mentioned a problem in this regard as well … The group work came into conflict with the work focused on individual development. If the activities were separate, students tended to leave the self-directing activites to the wayside. If they were combined, self-reflection activities tended to get in the way of collaborative activities … And so on … In sum, it’s quite a challenge to balance the two within given time constraints, so that both activities are carried out effectively.
I believe that social software is just an option for students and educators as it shows that there are different ways how to organise and support your learning process and there are much more behind the barriers of learning management systems. However we can’t force every student to start using a blog for his/her learning purposes. People are different. So I interpret the concept of personal learning environments as an attempt to show educators and students other opportunities and it is just the beginning phase, where more and more adult education moves away from institutional barriers…
If each member of class has a blog, then in fact, you’d have your own little community of bloggers, and the instructor could be placed at its head, as chief instigator, facilitator, intermediary, etc.
What you’re describing there are called “community aggregators,” like those hosted by FeedCluster.com.