The article I have chosen is Williams, J.B and Jacobs, J. (2004) – Exploring blogs as learning spaces in higher education. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 2004, 20(2), 232-247.
Available on-line at http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet20/williams.html
This article give a comprehensive account of how blogs might be used to assist in learning. There are some excellent examples given from the experience of the author’s and others and overall it provides a useful framework for thinking about how we might use a blog in our own learning.
It provides an interesting example of getting feedback from students about how they used a blog in their own learning. However I am not convinced of the usefulness of numerical feedback data gathered by a “tick box” questionnaire and prefer the richer data obtained by open ended questions. To be fair to this study it does use both types of data and the conclusions from each type back one another up.
They conclude “In short, blogs have the potential, at least, to be a truly transformational technology in hat they provide students with a high level of autonomy while simultaneously providing opportunity for greater interaction with peers.”
A conclusion that has been borne out in my own research.
