Blogging For Formative Assessment And Personal Reflection

Blogging for personal reflection

You may be required to use a blog as part of your studies either by setting up and maintaining a personal blog, on the web, or by using the Blackboard blog tool which your tutor has set up for you. 1. Blogs in Blackboard

For Blackboard, if you have been instructed to submit periodic blogs through the unit or block site, you will find detailed instructions here However, the simplest way to get started is by clicking the “Assess” tab on your Blackboard Module and then “Reflective Blogs”. You will find there a named blog is waiting for you. Only you and the Unit Leader can read this. When you click on View, use the 'New Entry' tab (top right of page) to make each entry. You can edit or delete this entry as often as you like before the deadline. This blog is your FORMAL, ASSESSED assignment for the Unit. It takes the form of a reflective statement based on your experience of working with the material in the Unit. The Blog Schedule is also in a folder under “Assess” and you must complete the Blog by the submission date provided in your Course Schedule.

2. Blogs on the web If you are setting up your own, web-based blog, a good place to start is Blogger.com where you will find simple and clear instructions on how to begin and how to customise and develop your own blog.

3. So what exactly is a blog and what is it used for? First you might want to look at this short video And here’s a blog entry about the usefulness of blogging. This is an online blog and there is a space at the bottom for you to leave comments. Why not leave one now? Do you agree with the points made? What is your view? I write this particular blog and I’d be really pleased to get some feedback from you. Here’s another blog exploring the value of the blog in learning….. Further information on the educational use of blogs can be found in the Appendix to this guide.

4. Getting started A great way to start with blogs is to read other people’s first, so you get an idea of what you want to write about and the style you might want to adopt. Here are some others to look at- as you see the topics and intended audience can be very varied: http://www.stephenfry.com/blog/ http://daydreamlily.blogspot.com/ http://thesecretlifeofamanicdepressive.wordpress.com/ http://clayoven.wordpress.com/ http://www.xlearn.co.uk/blogger.html See if you can find others – search via Google blog search or “blogs of note” on Blogger.com

5. Key tips for blogging •

Start with a short introduction about yourself and your blog and invite people* to make comments, giving you feedback. (*This is only possible if your blog is public and hosted on the web. In Blackboard your blog is private between you and your tutor).

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Most people feel very self conscious when they first start to blog and think they have nothing to say that anyone else will be interested in reading. Gradually your confidence will increase – but only if you practise. As with most things, little and often is the key.

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Blogs don’t all need to be in words! You can easily upload pictures and even videos to illustrate what you want to say, as you will have noticed in some of the blogs listed above. This is possible whether you are using Blogger or Blackboard.

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One important tip is not to write your blog first in a different programme (say, a Word document) and then attempt to cut and paste it into the blog. Although technically this is possible, you will probably encounter problems with the formatting and the finished product won’t look the way you intended.

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Don’t forget that you can edit and re-edit your blog as often as you like. With Blogger.com you can save entries as drafts until you are quite sure you want to publish them – but even then you can go back and change them at any time!

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Make sure you stay within copyright law if you are using videos, pictures or quotes: everything needs to be fully acknowledged and referenced just as in a conventional assignment; you may also need others’ permission to use their images or illustrations.

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Take care of your digital identity! A simple guide and workbook on the protection of your privacy and development of a positive online identity can be found in this free download.

6. Blogs for summative and formative assessment Here’s a sample blog from Blackboard which gives a flavour of the length and content expected in the short reflective blogs you are expected to contribute

Evidenc e of persona l learning

Work context explaine d

The structure of a piece of reflective writing has to cover: 1. Describe: What happened? Who was involved? What was your role? 2. Reflect: What went well, what went badly? What was significant? 3. Analyse: Why did what happened happen? In what ways was it useful for you personal and professional development? 4. Conclude: What have you learned? What will you do the same or differently next time? A typical schedule for the blogs to be submitted (the topics will be different depending on the subject studied): Entry 1: Reflect on the extent of your previous experience of the content of this Unit (Presentation Skills, Interacting with others and Teamworking skills) including your reasons for completing this course. Entry 2: Identify and reflect on a recent time when you have presented information verbally or in a written form to colleagues at work Entry 3: Identify and reflect on a recent time when you have used your interpersonal/communication skills to good effect at work. Entry 4: Identify and reflect on a recent time when you have managed a team of colleagues. Entry 5: At the end of the course, reflect on your completion of it. Criteria against which the piece of work will be judged A good blog will: Clearly relate to the work context Display evidence of in-depth critical reflection (i.e. – not merely a description of what happened, but what you learned from this and perhaps also how it relates to theories and concepts you have studied)

Appendix 1 Educational Uses of Blogs

“Weblogs” or “blogs”, a term coined by Jorn Barger in 1997, are online public writing environments, which enable a single author or a group of authors to write and publicly display articles, called posts, which are listed in reversed chronological order (Ellison & Wu, 2008; Anderson, 2007). Depending on the author’s wishes, blogs can include visual, audio and video content, as well as features such as links to other blogs, information about the author, and comments from readers (Ellison & Wu, 2008; OECD, 2007). The large number of people engaged in blogging has given rise to its own term – blogosphere – to express the sense of a whole ‘world’ of bloggers operating in their own environment (Anderson, 2007)………….. In educational settings, blogs can be used (1) by institutions and teachers as an easy way to produce dynamic learning environments for course announcements, news and feedback to students; (2) by students as digital portfolios to collect and present their work; (3) among a group of learners, using their individual blogs, to build up a corpus of interrelated knowledge via posts and comments, enhancing collaboration; and (4) with the aim of linking, via syndication technologies, different groups of learners and teachers (Franklin & van Harmelen, 2007; Bartolomé, 2008; Farmer, 2006; Ray, 2006; Berson & Berson, 2006; Kim, 2008). Educational benefits are projected specifically in the following areas: 1. Blogging can enhance reflection as well as analytical, critical and creative thinking by encouraging students to engage with positions divergent from their own (Ellison & Wu, 2008; Farmer, 2006; Akbulut, 2007; Berson & Berson, 2006; Kahn, 2007); 2. Blogs can enhance communication and promote more engaged learning, increasing student motivation and participation (Berson & Berson, 2006; Farmer et al., 2008; Utrecht, 2007; Kim, 2008); 3. Blogging is an effective tool for user centred, participatory learning, highlighting the individual learners and their unique authorial voices (Burgess, 2006; Akbulut, 2007; Ellison & Wu, 2008); 4. Writing for an internet audience not only enhances students’ writing skills, but also gives them a sense of responsibility, authorship and ownership (Farmer et al., 2008; Ellison & Wu, 2008; Akbulut, 2007); 5. Blogs offer an opportunity for students to experiment (in a protected environment) with different persona and expand their friendships; blogs foster deeper and more meaningful interactions and help develop the social and civic skills (Berson & Berson, 2006).

Redecker, C ; (2009) Review of Learning 2.0 Practices: Study on the Impact of Web 2.0 Innovations on Education and Training in Europe (European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Prospective Technological Studies) p33

Appendix 2 Other uses of blogs Blogs can be used for collaboration and as forums for discussion. A post by one user can have a number of comments added which takes the form of a conversation between the author and their audience. Blogs can have multiple authors and so many people can contribute to the development of a body of knowledge. This is an example of a multi author blog. In order to find linked postings for specific subjects, “tags” are used – short labels which identify the key topics. In the multi author Learnex blog mentioned above, click on the “categories” box and find posts with the tag “blogging”. You can see the use of tags (or labels) more clearly in the Virtual Leader blog where they are given at the foot of each posting, and in a list of all available labels in a side panel.

Blogs can also be a quick an easy way of creating a website: •

to showcase your work, http://daydreamlily.blogspot.com/

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or to pass on skills and knowledge to others (http://clayoven.wordpress.com/)