Using "Blog" to support the development of students who have language challenges?
Blogs are a type of website. The difference between a blog and other types of websites is that blogs are regularly updated with new content that is displayed in reverse chronological order, i.e. new blog posts first. Websites are static, meaning the content is organized into pages and is not updated frequently.
Blogging can be fun for students to do personal journaling. They can use it to share information, their thoughts and opinion. As students "blog" going through the process of thinking about their sharing will help them to develop their thinking skills. Learning to use the different features and functions of the platform would also improve their digital literacy.
What about students who have language challenges? How could they use "blog"? How do we encourage these students to use it when we are supporting them in their development?
Most blogging platforms allow the insertion of media content such as pictures, video clips and audio recordings etc.
These features could provide students multiple means of expressing themselves other than just printed text. This is also recommended in the 'Universal Design for Learning' guidelines on providing for "Actions & Expressions". For starter, students could be encourage to "use pictures together with short phrases" to express their ideas and gradually expanding to "short sentences" and ultimately "passages of brief description". Alternatively, students could also do a auditory recording of their own verbal description on the pictures that they post.
The reverse chronological ordering of their "blog posts" could be easily revisited thus allowing students to self-monitor their own progress. Feedbacks by peer and teachers as "comments on their posts" could also help them in their reflections.
There are challenges that need to be considered when using "blogging" as a tool to support student's learning as highlighted in the following quotes.
"...the biggest challenge to Blogging is when instructors take away the voluntary nature of participation and begin requiring postings and responses to other postings. Although... can still promote intellectual development, the temptation for students is to respond simply for the sake of responding and to finish the requirement rather than processing information and learning..." (Azizinezhad & Hashemi, 2011)
"Allowing students to comment on each others’ blogs may have some potential draw-backs. Students may not be as open to sharing their thoughts and opinions if they know someone other than the professor is reading it...".
These challenges could be address by "reassuring the student writer (student)" (Hurlburt, 2008) with a safe virtual classroom environment through modelling by the teachers. Balancing between "voluntary and assigning comments" by peer to the blog posted (Azizinezhad & Hashemi, 2011).
Reference:
Azizinezhad, M., & Hashemi, M. (2011). The use of blogs in teaching and learning translation. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 28, 867-871.
Hurlburt, S. (2008). Defining tools for a new learning space: Writing and reading class blogs. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 4(2), 182-189.
List of free blogging platforms rank by the ease of usage:
(Disclaimer: This is only a personal review!)
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