Learning about Blogs Experience - Tool 1

Being a student studying this particular topic by distance education, so far I have found it quite challenging. Keeping in mind that my exposure to ICT studies has been quite limited and I had very little prior knowledge of what a blog was, let alone what the functionalities and/or benefits of a “Blog” were. Due to my inexperience with Blogs, I found it necessary to research what a Blog was and familiarise myself with the term and what it consists of. After a quick web search I found a useful site, clearly for amateur, soon to be “bloggers”, which  explained that a “Blog” can be a “personal diary” (https://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g)  that the world can view, “a professional exchange of knowledge that contain links to contemporary events, conferences, publications” (http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/302824/mod_page/content/8/blogs.html) or basically whatever you want it to be.

One of the many beneficial features of using a blog in a learning context may be that it allows students to compare they’re quality of work with their peers to either clarify or reinforce the students understandings of the particular task. Another benefit of using a blog in a learning environment is that it can be quite useful for students (such as myself) to complete tasks by distance as it is produced online, therefore allowing real time communication and progression in their studies. Blogging within a learning environment may also improve your writing.  Using a blog as a learning tool for student’s means that they will be posting their work online, and doing so comes with rules and responsibilities. The students are accountable for maintaining copyright and associated regulations and must realise that their work is open to public scrutiny. Additionally, knowing how to reference will make your students competent researchers. More benefits to using a blog as a learning tool for students in a learning environment can be found on this website:  (http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/07/06/what-are-the-10-secret-benefits-of-blogging/). This website is also where the foundation for my ideas originated from.

A weakness, as I see it, from using a Blog as a learning tool, is that feedback is also provided online. This written method of feedback has some obvious flaws in that it leaves out emotion and intentions you may otherwise receive from face to face feedback. Emphasis on specific words that may perhaps have been intended to be emphasised on might be over looked by the student. Another potential weakness would be that the ability for students to access each other’s postings may lead to plagiarism or stealing of ideas.

On the other hand, Blogs are a wonderful and practical resource for students studying by distance that opens a variety of opportunities, although they need to be used responsibly and like specified earlier, must be kept within the copyright boundaries.