Blog Content and Design can Boost Participation.

Yet another week of researching and playing around with my blog. I have learned many new ideas from this week’s readings. This includes the value of learner motivation, the effect of the design of the blog and what to/ not to incorporate in my blogs.

According to Yang & Chang (2012) blogging affects peer interaction, learning and motivation. In their article they said, “Our main conclusion is that engaging in dialogues in the form of blog comments is associated with positive attitudes towards online peer interaction and academic achievements, and students show positive motivation to learn from peers.”

Another interesting idea I have come across is that the design of the blog plays an important role in how the blog is used. Huang & Lo (2012) says, “Compelling headlines and themes are the attention-grabbing topics that inspire heated debates. Bloggers are aware of what their friends are writing and of ongoing conversations with other bloggers. Thus, visual presentation conveys a specific message to a target audience, making content more readable. Even high-quality articles must incorporate multimedia presentation designs for eye-catching layouts.” From this I have learned that the design of my blog must be appealing so that readers would be drawn to the sight, will linger and return. If the subjects are attention-catching, then bloggers are more likely to participate in a discussion.

Hungerford-Kresser et al lists some steps that teachers could use to make their blogs more effective. They suggested that we should be aware of student needs and insert or remove ourself from the blog discussion. Sometimes some students will “shut down” if the instructor is actively involved in the discussion. Another idea is to use some of the blog discussions into the class time discussions. This shows the students that the teachers are reading the blogs. Instructors should also allow the students to have a say as to when a topic is exhausted. The article further stated that using smaller groups like what is being done in our class can make the blog exercise more meaningful. Finally, our students should be encouraged to respond to the blog with videos, Powerpoints or any other multi-media they wish to use. I will definitely bear these things in mind when I use blogs in my classrooms.
 Just looking back over the last few weeks of my research topics on blogs, some themes that have emerged are:

1. ·    Extensive Writing in Foreign-Language Classrooms
   ·         Blogging to enhance writing skills
   ·         Promoting Learner Autonomy and Intercultural Competence
   ·         Peer interaction, learning motivation, and academic achievements
   ·         Attractive blogs promote more intense discussions.
   ·         Learning from your mistakes about what not to include in your blog.

 

References:

Huang, Y. H., & Lo, Y. F. (2012). What makes blogging attractive to bloggers: a case of college-level constituency users? Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 28(3), 208-221. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2012.00482.x

Hungerford-Kresser, H., Wiggins, J., & Amaro-Jimenez, C. (n.d). Learning from our mistakes: What matters when incorporating blogging in the content area literacy classroom.  Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(4), 326-335.

Yang, C. C., & Chang, Y. S. (2012). Assessing the effects of interactive blogging on student attitudes towards peer interaction, learning motivation, and academic achievements. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 28(2), 126-135. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2011.00423.x