Literature: Pros of blogging (Part 2)

Herring, Scheidt, Wright, & Bonus (unpublished manuscript) described blogs as being adaptable to multiple uses and could “bridge, and ultimately blur the boundaries, between HTML documents and text-based CMC”. One example of this adaptability was how Russell and Pearson (2004) used group blogs for undergraduate students to plan their science projects. Every student contributed to their group’s shared space and was appraised of and could critique the work of other groups. As a result, Russell and Pearson showed how blogs could be used as a tool to help learners critique projects actively and formatively. I do not think that the authors were discounting the technology affordances of other tools. They were merely pointing out this novel use of blogs.

One of the touted advantages of blogging is the same as that of online discussion forums: the potential for distributed and collaborative learning (Downes, 2004). Furthermore, by linking blogs and critiquing one another’s work, bloggers may form knowledge communities (Oravec, 2003). However, while there seems to be evidence for such learning and the formation of communities in other forms of computer-mediated communication (e.g. Baym, 1998; Wenger, 1998), such advantages in blogging have yet to be substantiated.

In an analysis of a random sample of 203 blogs, Herring et al provided empirical evidence that blogs were not as interactive, interconnected, or oriented to external events as some bloggers, journalists, and scholars made them out to be. However, Herring et al made that point that the strength blogs as an “individualistic and intimate form of self-expression” has not been emphasized enough. Perhaps, it is time to focus on what blogs do well instead of what blogs purportedly do.

References

Baym, N. K. (1998). The emergence of online community. In S. G. Jones (Ed.), Cybersociety 2.0: Revisiting computer-mediated communication and community (pp. 35-68). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Downes, S. (2004). Educational blogging. Educause Review, September/October, 14-26.

Herring, S. C., Scheidt, L. A., Wright, E., & Bonus, S. (2005). Weblogs as a bridging genre. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Oravec, J. A. (2003). Blending by blogging: Weblogs in blended learning initiatives. Journal of Educational Media, 28(2/3), 225-233.

Russell, J., & Pearson, M. (2004). Instructional technology jewels: Four tools for a nonmajors science class. Journal of College Science Teaching, July/August, 24-28.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.