‘Blog-it and they will come’: Challenges for engaging teachers and learners with wikis and blogs
Megan Warin2, Jan Metcalf1, Martin Edney1, Mike Cameron1, Steve Lyon1
1Durham University, United Kingdom, 2Adelade University, Australia
"We are not creating learners... not creating inquirers anymore... they will think when you tell them what to think... [the wikis] are... trying to shift the way they engage with learning and the way they think about their own learning... an opportunity to get them engaged and talking to each other." Project interviewee.This paper presents the outcomes of a project benchmarking blog and wiki use. The paper suggests critical success (and failure) factors in the uptake of these tools and identifies good pedagogic practice.The interdisciplinary team includes anthropologists with the methodological and analytical skills to explore the mechanisms that render tools like wikis and blogs meaningful in a socio-cultural context. Learning technologists contribute knowledge of pedagogy and practice. The project is in stage two of three at the time of submission, and will be completed before ALT-C 2009.Stage one reviewed the use of wikis and blogs using interviews with staff to develop a baseline of practice and evidence. The paper presents identified innovative practice from diverse disciplinary areas: modern languages used blogs as 'personal-learning journals' for continual formative-assessment; computer science used wikis for group project management; geographers used wikis to engage students with the literature and education students to build a bank of visual resources on diversity. We consider the critical factors (pedagogical, technical and cultural) in making these approaches successful. For example, user experience, confidence and pre-existing social hierarchies impact on use.Stage two triangulated our findings with staff and student survey data. We utilise the results to evaluate the effective use across the institution accounting for context (subject, level, distance or blended, group or individual use). One interview suggested males posted on blogs, whilst females 'lurked'. Was this gender difference reflected in a wider survey?The final stage outlines models of good practice which we present for discussion. These flexible models aim to support the embedding of good practice in collaborative online learning. Ownership, constructive alignment of the activity with objectives, assessment and overcoming fear of 'fixing opinion' as text, all play a role. We believe these guidelines will be applicable to other institutions.No references provided