Tech Playtesting Assignment 1: Blogs

While exploring accessible blog platforms, there were an ENDLESS choice of options including Bluehost, Blogger, Hibu, Wix, Wordpress, and Squarespace to name only a few.  I played around with several options- Blogger, Wix and Wordpress- comparing the visual appeal, ease of use, cost, and various other things. I choose Blogger, which most users known as Blogspot, which is hosted by Google and accessed through the subdomain Blogspot.com.  My reasoning to choosing Blogspot was based on my personal preference, not because any of the others had downsides. I was most familiar with Blogspot, using it in a prior class and creating a blog when my first child was born. I liked that Blogspot is on a Google platform and I could easily access and create from my already existing Google email account. Through additional research, I found the definition of a blog to be more than I originally would have described.

Retrieved from https://firstsiteguide.com/, blogs are an online space for sharing information typically in a journal-entry style design. The information may be shared on a very specific topic or a broader category. Blog entries may include information presented in text form, but also may include video, comments, and links to external sources outside of the original post. Blogs archive post entries unlike websites and require frequent postings to encourage reader engagement. There are many types of blogs, but the most obvious categories noted while researching were personal, business, professional, and niche blogs.

Nevertheless, regardless of the changing categories I noticed the blog layouts characteristically are very similar across most blogging platforms, creating ease of navigator for the reader. Likewise, across the blog categories the general purpose was regularly to share information and to connect the reader with the information provided within the postings. The ability to personalize the blog with pictures, backgrounds, fonts, color schemes and some options for navigation. Blogs may be full view for public viewing or may be private for only those who have been individually and privately granted access.

The differences between blogging and other technologies falls mainly in that blogging is not dependent upon other students. Blogs allow the transfer of information in one direction. Discussion boards, for example rely heavily on contributions and engagement from other students. Discussion boards permit two way communication, which is fundamentally required in order to be successful. Blogging allows a student to express themselves and present information, without requiring another student to interact. The affordances of learning provided by blogging is students must gain knowledge through research about a specific subject or topic in order to be able to make a blog post. They are required to examine and reflect about how to present their information. This benefits with students truly understanding the information they are presenting in the blog. It also permits for students to go back and view what has been archived which allows students to return to their previous thoughts, and causes them to reflect. 

BLOGGING WITH THE TPACK MODEL

Content

As an educator who is not in a classroom on a daily basis, I can nevertheless see various uses with blogging for my specific role as a Director of Continuing Education. I believe this would be a great way for me to present a variety of topics, such as information about various programs within my department, to share tips navigating ‘college life,’ or best practices for job search and interviewing tips. This could be a great resource for me to share information. On the other side, the students could profit from creating blogs as well. I, sometimes, find myself in the classroom speaking with students about their choice in a pathway and encouraging their exploration of a career. As an alternative of a notebook portfolios as I have assigned to students in the past, this would be a great way for students to create an online collection of their chosen pathway- to include information they have researched, goals they have set, and things they have learned. They could share information after exploring their career of interest, or share after they have job shadowed someone in their field, etc. The possibilities are endless and through student sharing of their blog entries, other students can learn from them too.

Pedagogy

While not necessarily a specific pedagogy, constructivism is the learning theory I find most suitable in the use of blogs.  Made well-known by Jean Piaget, this theory is characteristically thought of as active learning or “learning by doing.” Constructivism is learning through linking prior knowledge with new information and I believe blogging serves as implementation for such active style learning. It lets students to seek out information, to do their own learning and expression, however still offers opportunities for their classmates to be involved through reading of the blog and commenting on the post.

Technology

Blogspot is my platform preference for creating and sharing information via blogging. I favor the design options and overall ease of use. For students, while researching various platforms, I would lean toward Edublog based on reviews and the large amount of input from other educators.  Edublog is specifically designed for use within the classroom.  It is established upon the WordPress platform. The setup of Edublog and how it allows students to create their own blog while being bound and associated with the class homepage is very appealing. This allows students the freedom to create, share and express themselves but allows the instructor to oversee and guide students in an appropriate manner. It also allows student work to not be publicly shared until the students and instructor feel the time is appropriate and the rights are released, or permission is given for the student blogsite to be released from the classroom group.

Overall, I feel that blogs are a great source for sharing and archiving information. There are many opportunities for the use of blogs within the education. The only obstacles I could see are if students do not have computers at home, or perhaps internet access to work on blog post assignments.  Also, as a mother to a child with severe dyslexia, I could see that my son would not be overly excited about assignments which required an extensive amount of writing, while he would be thankful for spellcheck! Largely, the use of blogs outweighs NOT using them to further educational learning.