tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post6314760953263312477..comments2010-02-18T10:50:11.004+13:00Comments on slices on Facilitating Online Communities Course: Asynchronous event 16th Nov to 30th Nov 09Meenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04543295882581098502noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-4638449783855854512009-12-08T14:00:42.278+13:002009-12-08T14:00:42.278+13:00@Krishan,Satish & Sarah thanks for your feedba...@Krishan,Satish & Sarah thanks for your feedback.<br /><br />P.S:Time for me to reflect on the event and the achieved outcomes.All above comments have changed my thinking and will be summarising the overall event in the next blog.Meenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04543295882581098502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-72241068655320655132009-12-03T04:56:32.595+13:002009-12-03T04:56:32.595+13:00Vow, iam really impressed with the active discussi...Vow, iam really impressed with the active discussion with regards to Blog as a tool, so meena you have achieved quite a good amount of response and feedback.<br />With regards to question someone raised "Meena, do you have any research evidence about how blogs are used in education eg how/why/where students engage with blogs - is it an effective elarning tool?"<br />I would like to share my personal experience in year 2004 when i was teaching in Ngee Ann Poly (Singapore)we had a task force within the school to take up alternative media and approach for education. During that time FB was not that famous but blogs were quite a in thing, During those period we started use blog as a tool to facilitate the learning for some of the modules. To our surprise those kids which many lecturers thought were dumb could really write a lot when we ask any open questions in the blog topic and encouraged peer feedback system. We also used quite extensively for them to reflect upon a topic or on lecture. To everyone's surprise some the kids were very engaged and could really put their minds on work via this media while engaging them in traditional academics way was quite a challenge.<br />Since 2006 i have moved away from academics into professional world from what i hear is those guys are using all kinds of social networking sites as tools for learning.<br />So meena you are in a right track<br /><br />rgds<br />SNAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05352952607103920427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-49094584075097416412009-12-02T16:04:08.145+13:002009-12-02T16:04:08.145+13:00Hi Meena,
It was very interesting to see such a g...Hi Meena,<br /><br />It was very interesting to see such a good number of people participating and sharing their personal views regarding Blogging. I myself have just started using a blog this year and I personally like it in terms of using it as an online journal which could be used to reflect on things in the future. Very good tool for elearning courses for learners to use as part of their learning experience. <br /><br />I have read pros and cons regarding the blogging, would be looking forward to reading your evaluation on the whole event. <br /><br />Good luck <br /><br />Regrads<br />KrishanKrishanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08699496001645747255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-10013202111510398402009-12-01T16:50:29.729+13:002009-12-01T16:50:29.729+13:00Hello Meena
I know you are wrapping up this event...Hello Meena<br /><br />I know you are wrapping up this event so look forward to hearing your reflections on how you think it went.<br /><br />From my point of view, I thought you did a great job of facilitating this event. It was very interesting to compare what you did and the progress of this event compared to that of a lice event. In one respect it is easier to facilitate an asynchronous event because you none of the immediate technical nightmares that go along with synchronous events. But on the other hand, you have to attract people to the blog, capture people's attention, and motivate them to leave comments and enter discussion.<br /><br />I believe you did a great job of providing interesting material to discuss, asking questions and guiding discussion. I also enjoyed the way you used the email group to remind people what was happening, and summarizing the first week's discussion. <br /><br />I think it was a little confusing having the video on YouTube and then asking people to come back here to discuss the content. I think it would have been better to either guide the conversation on YouTube or embed the video here. But having said that, you don't appear to have lost too many people along the way.<br /><br />How do the rest of you who took part in this conversation feel about how things went?Sarah Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00480597227427423793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-22486874677181362662009-12-01T08:10:39.298+13:002009-12-01T08:10:39.298+13:00To find out more about learning in a network or co...To find out more about learning in a network or community, I would advise you to have a look at "connectivism" which is a learning theory mooted by George Siemens: <br /><br />http://www.connectivism.ca/Sarah Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00480597227427423793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-73217203863484805632009-11-30T22:11:21.425+13:002009-11-30T22:11:21.425+13:00@ Catherine, thanks for your input, me too have en...@ Catherine, thanks for your input, me too have enjoyed all the discussions generated in this event. Can i beat the teen sailor Jessica Watson blog posts though?<br /><br />@ Debra, thanks for sharing Jessica Watson’s link, it’s incredible, had seen her in the news when she embarked her record breaking journey on October, i saw 200+comments generated by her latest blog post. I guess this is one event people can’t get enough of, and the support seems to be so high, compared to the criticism that created quite a stir before she began sailing solo. I like the fact that she has taken technology with her and regularly posts her reflections. What does that say?<br /><br />Online learning tools have helped enhance learning experiences by customizing it to suit individual learner needs and circumstance. I am glad i had the opportunity to continue learning and am able to make “meaning” of whatever i have learnt. The truth is i do reflect but do not record; this could help me look back in my learning journey. <br />Should follow Bronwyn’s framework theory for personal reflections?<br /><br />Can we say “Learning will occur in a community rather than in the classroom” in the years to come!!!<br /><br />Cheers<br />MeenaMeenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04543295882581098502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-5274705668462779692009-11-30T20:16:24.602+13:002009-11-30T20:16:24.602+13:00Hi Meena,
Rather late to the party so please acce...Hi Meena,<br /><br />Rather late to the party so please accept my apologies for my tardiness. I think that your facilitation of the Slices session is a great example of how a blog can be used for asynchronous elearning. I agree with Roscali as I am a reflective person, so being able to access and re-read the discussion is always a help to me. <br /><br />I also can identify with the comments relating to how young people don’t appear to have embraced blogging. I am following a blog written by a young person http://www.youngestround.blogspot.com/ it’s Jessica Watson and she is using the blog as a means of communicating her progress. Notably she has 200+ comments for each post. I wonder how many of them are from young people. I am following the blog out of interest but I am learning too. I am being exposed to sailing terminology and geographic references of a maritime nature. Having said that I have not posted any comments, I guess that I have gone into lurker mode. Another point relating to whether young people are engaging with blogging is a personal observation: Young people are fickle, they move very quickly with the times and blogging may have been superseded by twitter, facebook, bebo etc. The fashion and music industry depend on this behaviour in young people. <br /><br />Krishnan’s reference to not owning information is so true, as educators we are vehicles of knowledge transfer. That knowledge is not ours but knowledge of others relating to the topics we specialise in.<br /><br />Praneel’s comments got me thinking - I agree with the spelling, I use the spell checking facility in word. I can spell but my problem is that I didn’t learn to type so quite often transpose letters. I agree that blogs are time consuming but so is preparing lessons and resources. Lack of access to technology, we live in a changing world and more and more people are gaining access to web 2.0 technology. This is the most common excuse from staff in my institute for not engaging with interactive technology. I lived in the UK until 2 years ago and the Government invested money and took a lead in making the internet accessible for all. People have access to the web free at libraries, community settings and educational settings. This needs to happen in NZ or we will fall behind other OECD countries. <br /><br />The key thing for me, as a practitioner is that technology is a tool to be used appropriately to enhance and support learning. It is not a panacea; a poor teacher will not become a great teacher by using technology. A variety of teaching methods and variety in assessment methods should meet the needs of students and encourage learning to take place.<br /><br />Oops sorry Meena, I have gone on a bitDebra's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00734435259912143853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-2649622211372589282009-11-30T16:55:49.884+13:002009-11-30T16:55:49.884+13:00Hi Meena,
I think the advantages to using blogging...Hi Meena,<br />I think the advantages to using blogging as a learning tool far out weigh the disadvantages, and where the learning outcomes would be better met in a synchronous environment there are many online options now available, as you stated is your post above 'Many educators are already supporting mixed delivery to support self paced learning withlive conference/chat sessions.'Even subjects that are more hands on and perhaps considered as ones to be taught face-to-face only can be successfully adapted for blended delivery. Enjoyed the discussion that your asychronous online event has encouraged:)<br />Catherinecatherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02887976230842891620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-80210464991602483032009-11-30T13:47:04.914+13:002009-11-30T13:47:04.914+13:00In response to last post of Praneel:
In this tech...In response to last post of Praneel:<br /><br />In this technologically advanced world, don’t we all want to support digital literacy and foster student’s development to make learning more easily accessible? <br /><br />Students like me would not think of continuing education due to family/work commitments, with this course, I am enjoying the self paced rhythm of informal learning at my own pace. I put my daughter to bed, finish my house chores and get on with the computer. I am glad I am able to do this, because I do not wish to stop learning? Agreed many subjects require human interaction and practical experience, so online learning may not be ideal in all scenarios.<br /><br />How necessary is it to be digitally active , how about if it benefits you in exploring your understanding on a subject?<br /><br />Again talk about it and the best bit of blogs are that it’s a free tool and a effective one too, even though it offers the many benefits and setbacks as discussed before. What will outweigh what, advantages with disadvantages or it would be question of access to these implementing tools?<br /><br />One of the biggest benefits of using online tools in today’s fast paced set up is that (say blogs in our case) learners will be updated with latest content. This would save on CD or other forms of resources with re-duplication and re-distribution cost. <br /><br />It also depends on the scenario we are in, and would not be suitable where you need immediate solution because of the time gap. Many educators are already supporting mixed delivery to support self paced learning with live conference/chat sessions.<br /><br />Follow this link on elearning trends, a interesting read http://www.worldwidelearn.com/elearning-industry/trends.htm , it is about implementing online learning to your benefits.<br /> <br />NZ government is already taking initiatives to promote learning culture, by funding institutions and also providing free (limited) access to internet at community libraries. Well not at a larger scale, but getting somewhere…<br /><br />Yes we suffer on bandwidth compared to other countries; recently one of the participant from our course had trouble getting into one of the conference due to poor bandwidth in their area.<br /><br />Hopefully the bandwidth problem is sorted, and some day high bandwidth connections become as common as having/using a phone.<br /><br />What do you all think of this and the previous post? Do share<br />Last day of the forum, Cheers <br />Meena Meenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04543295882581098502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-12495708975621121482009-11-30T00:37:20.046+13:002009-11-30T00:37:20.046+13:00Response to second post of Praneel made before pub...Response to second post of Praneel made before publishing, oops definitely need to think twice before clicking.<br />Cheers MeenaMeenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04543295882581098502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-25034686906369468522009-11-30T00:34:14.695+13:002009-11-30T00:34:14.695+13:00Hi Praneel, while moderating, i realised you had a...Hi Praneel, while moderating, i realised you had another post and wanted to answer as a separate post to this thread.<br />Educators could update latest course content, assignment submission reminder and links (can be easily updated as blog posts are chronologically displayed. This is, if blogs are implemented in course curriculum. I am sure we all have different views on this too.<br /><br />As i mentioned in my comment earlier, blogs can be a platform of sharing ideas, make connections to the topic and can also a positive method (?) of obtaining feedback .However i do agree based on my own personal experience that blogs are easy to start but hard to maintain due to its 24/7 facility, although i am following up on all blogs, if i have missed a day i have lot of catching up to do. <br /><br />Yes , the good news is that blogs helps learner capture their thoughts real time. The other news is, it lacks the real time spark as you mentioned, learners may not be tuned in to give real time response, which could lead to hijacking of a particular post in the blog which in face to face had yielded real time response. <br />If responses to posts/comments are structured well, i suppose it could overcome the barrier at least 50 percent of not 100.Does anyone have any thoughts on this?<br /><br />Replying to your second post Praneel.<br /><br />Thanks to all the participants for bringing my blog alive with your positive and critical comments. <br /><br />Cheers<br />MeenaMeenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04543295882581098502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-76472072645310700102009-11-29T23:53:15.608+13:002009-11-29T23:53:15.608+13:00@ Praneel, Thanks for your views on blogging, just...@ Praneel, Thanks for your views on blogging, just goes to show how we all have different point of views. <br />You have definitely made valuable points, where we need to look back and work on our spelling and grammar mistakes. It is essential, as we progress in our learning.<br /><br />It is probably true (for me at least) that many of the views may not be backed by proven research, but come from experiences (like the one we had) of learning from one another’s blogs like in our current course.<br />In this context, personally i would like to add that any research article (before publishing) could benefit if uploaded in blogs to share and made open for inputs from larger audience,just the way we were enlightened about our practices by your feedback. <br />Google Scholar helps you find relevant work across the world of scholarly research. The question would remain debatable whether or not it should be open for public before being published.<br /> <br />Talking about spell check feature of Microsoft, i personally don’t trust it let alone use it, as many a times it flags good grammar as bad, it may work well for good writers who have generally have good understanding of rules and may be able to differentiate between the good and the bad.<br />P.S I have re-read my post to make sure i do not make silly errors with spelling, and will try to maintain good writing practice (smile from your best colleague ever-Meena)Meenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04543295882581098502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-60707513297186416712009-11-29T23:00:27.195+13:002009-11-29T23:00:27.195+13:00@Jagadish, Thanks for participating again. I agree...@Jagadish, Thanks for participating again. I agree with you about benefit of collaborative learning from blogs(and wikis as pointed), it can be a great medium to be connected with Peers and tutor/facilitators. Even day to day, if we get stuck in a problem or want to find out more, the mantra we follow is “google” for knowledge exploration. Learning seems to have extended to informal learning through various web options like google, social networking tools, wikis, education blogs etc<br /><br />@Rachel, Thanks for your feedback. Educators and learners have already started venturing out of their networks and forming groups through blogs, wikis, twitter, facebook page. In Roseanne’s conference on “Personal learning network”, Anton the guest speaker highlighted that we build our learning network and look for collection of e-learning resources in our network. When i popped the question how do we start our personal learning network he suggested through educational blog. <br />I enjoyed the blog link of Katie, where they have implemented blogs for 5 year olds, at this point it looks like the kids have got used to the idea. I like the idea where the teacher helps students sharing their ideas as they are at elementary level. If successful, in the future, it might help them discover answers through peers and reach a wider audience. The aspect that each student (regardless of age) has a voice worth being heard is giving students ownership of learning. If the practice goes on, students may well be in the path of communicating, sharing online more ethically, effectively and moreover safely in an online environment. Not sure, if everyone would agree with me.<br />Although blogs can be viable and effective tool, it may not necessarily fascinate everyone or get the best of someone due to different types of learners with different learning styles. Perhaps if the educators themselves reflect and blog or use wikis, de.li.ci.ous. Also, learning can occur in many cases, if the learner himself/herself immerses to learning and is willing to take any challenge, whether the learner will be able to meet learning outcome following a tool (suitable or not) would remain questionable!!!<br /><br />@Neethika, thank you for sharing your views and benefits and pitfalls of blogging. I agree with you about learners missing real time interactions and although they could improve on writing they may not be confident in presenting/communicating in the real world. According to me, learning may happen with reading a blog article, learner may not wish to respond through post. <br />And Yay, it is a free tool which would reduce the distance and could help the trainer communicate with the class. Besides free tool and a e-hobby we can build our own learning network by reading blogs related to our interest, i find this link good to explore for topics of interest: http://blogsearch.google.com.<br />Thanks once again for sharing your point of view about the questions posed.<br /><br />@Smita, thanks for your views. Yes making blog more attractive with graphics, videos, links for more exploration would be so much helpful. Did you mean live blogging by synchronous blogging, just recently Stephen (another participant from our course) shared http://mizminh.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/learning-technologies-conference-09-liveblog/ this link.Meenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04543295882581098502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-22459401879278785502009-11-29T14:42:28.455+13:002009-11-29T14:42:28.455+13:00Finally blogging requires technology. In technolog...Finally blogging requires technology. In technologically advanced countries or most first world countries educational blogging could become a normal part of school curriculum but if the whole world is taken in context traditional education will lead for years to come. Even in New Zealand there are many students who would not be able to participate. It is one huge drawback. Students need to have ICT resources both at home and school to take full advantage of eLearning. If it’s a vlog (video blogging) than high speed internet connection is a must which many countries including New Zealand lag behind in.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09103686946386233713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-41186868024291626052009-11-29T14:41:49.143+13:002009-11-29T14:41:49.143+13:00Secondly blogs are time consuming and hard to main...Secondly blogs are time consuming and hard to maintain. In a classroom atmosphere opinions are rendered and debated same time. For example, if I did not understand Meena’s answer to Sarah Stewart’s question, “Meena, do you have any research evidence about how blogs are used in education eg how/why/where students engage with blogs - is it an effective elarning tool?”, in class, I would have clarified with her at the same time but in a blog environment I’d have to wait for her reply and in the mean time the discussion could be hijacked to some other topic. In class, discussions take place in real time and when the class finishes the teacher is free to do some other task. In a blogosphere due to its 24/7 “opening time” threads can be posted anytime. This makes it hard for the blog moderator or facilitator to keep track and kindle the discussions. Moreover the moderator or facilitator has to spend more time, at different hours, “looking after” the blog. On top of that you cannot be sure that everybody is participating in the discussion if there are no marks allocated for posting threads. Unlike in classrooms students cannot be monitored and encouraged to give their opinions.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09103686946386233713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-61371386422358694432009-11-29T14:41:12.181+13:002009-11-29T14:41:12.181+13:00I think participants in this blog have said lots a...I think participants in this blog have said lots about the positive aspect of blogs – albeit without any backing from any academic research - therefore I’ll touch on some of the disadvantages of blogs, also without any backing from any academic research papers – all of them being my own personal opinions.<br /> <br />Jagadish made the point that blogs improve writing competency. Does it? Rosanne commented above that by encouraging her children to blog might improve their spelling. I do not think that can happen. A good example to prove this is this blog itself! Looking at the threads above and the main blog article, how many posts follow the correct grammatical rules and have correct spelling? (There may be heaps of problems with my post – am just putting my point through). Should it be “ice burg”, “iceburg”, “ice-berg” or iceberg? Since this is an educational blog, part of a graded course, it is expected to be formal and follow simple grammatical rules I suppose. So instead of “i” shouldn’t it be “I”, can “can’t” be spelled as “cant” and should “&” be “and”? Do not get me wrong here – I am just highlighting this to make my point. If we as adults do not adhere to these in blogs than what is stopping the kids, whose writing competency we are trying to improve and who are “born txt natives”, to follow these sloppy ways. What I am trying to say here is that regular discussion between familiar people gives rise to slangs and sloppy writing thus diminishing the quality of proper usage of language.<br /><br />Moreover there is one feature in most digital medium of writing which some people think as “godsent” but in actual fact it reduces users’ spelling ability. It is called Spell Checker! Now almost all browsers come with a Spell Checker. Like calculators reduce one’s ability to do simple arithmetic similarity Spell Checkers make us not to care or remember simple spelling. So it does not necessarily mean that writing lots will improve writing competency.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09103686946386233713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-64687226680349214782009-11-28T15:33:51.137+13:002009-11-28T15:33:51.137+13:00Hi Meena and Jagdish, congratulations to both of y...Hi Meena and Jagdish, congratulations to both of you for such a brilliant presentation about blogging.<br />The best part I personally like about blogging is it's FREE.<br />It is as easy as sending an e-mail as mentioned in the presetation, and offers a direct link between the interested parties in the community. Through blogs the e-learners gets a genuine audience for their work which in turn provides a great amount of motivation to do their work. It provides a platform for the readers to leave comments in an interactive format. (Which is what I am doing right now). And again it can be made more attractive with the additional graphics and videos. In addition Sychronised and Asynchronised both kind of blogs enhances the thinking process of the participants.smitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12410362471098933313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-33969393734308508432009-11-28T06:45:11.143+13:002009-11-28T06:45:11.143+13:00Thank you for the presentation, very easy to follo...Thank you for the presentation, very easy to follow and listen to. Great to read the comments as well and the discussion. I am encouraged to see that blogs are being used by students, as I teach on a course that students are encouraged to have a blog and also participate in the course blog, however there seems some reluctance, even if there is marks against the blog. I would also like to see this used as part of another course, where students need to record information during the semester that then can be used to write up a reflective report. I find that alot of students will only "write" what they have to for an assignment! rather than writing to learn or for enjoyment so this could also be a struggle for some!Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17628326259296433473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-6315692298309874732009-11-28T02:01:25.982+13:002009-11-28T02:01:25.982+13:00I believe that even when there were no blogs, coll...I believe that even when there were no blogs, collaboration was the key to learning. And as pointed out by Ajit,blog offers collaboration as a primary feature. Another area where I think we can look at is the "motivation effect" because of the influence model that might be seen in a social network of educational blogs conncected via blogrolls. We learn not just wbecause we want an answer to a question, knowledge exploration is a fundamental aspect of learning. And blog networks are so effective in this. (And so are wikis.)Jagguhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05221998411280557754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-83077528212413606062009-11-28T01:23:44.958+13:002009-11-28T01:23:44.958+13:00First of all Great Work Meena!
This is purely my ...First of all Great Work Meena! <br />This is purely my view as a personal blogger and a NZ high school teacher.<br />Your questions are put in inverted commas and I have tried answering some of the questions as they are quite interesting and very relevant to my profession.<br /><br />"So guys what do you all think about using blog as a e-learning tool, how effective it can be and what could be its shortfalls?"<br /><br />Like any other learning media, blogging has its own benefits as well as pitfalls. <br />Blogging can be a very effective tool for e-learning. It can be used as a forum for teachers and the students to interact about a particular topic that is being covered. Teachers can facilitate the student learning and encourage self-initiated learning. The teacher offers himself/herself as the main resource and the degree to which he/she is used up, is up to the student. In this student-centered educational setting, students discover what it means to be autonomous, spontaneous, creative, and self-disciplined in their efforts to reach their own goals. One of the shortfalls of using blogs in e-learning is that the students miss on real life interactions with their teachers as well as their class mates. This could lead to developing poor communication skills as they progress in their life as majority of their interaction is done virtually. <br /><br />"Meena, do you have any research evidence about how blogs are used in education eg how/why/where students engage with blogs - is it an effective elarning tool?"<br /><br />Educational blogs which are different to technical blogs are new phenomena in our schools and institutions. As far as I am aware, research evidence about using blogs in education is very limited especially in high schools. Majority of schools have limited funding for ICT, not enough of computers etc which makes it difficult to implement e-learning tools. <br /><br />"Blogs have come down to 14th place in 2009, unlike last year when they were no 10.What made it drop down????time to think & research"<br /><br />From what I have understood about blogging it is like an e-hobby (virtual) for me. It takes time to write a meaningful and exciting post which is essential, to entice someone to read the blog. People have limited time due to personal and professional commitments; hence there is a slow decline in blogging.<br /><br />"Now,would anyone like to share what activities can be used around blogs to engage the learner and reach outcomes."<br /><br />A blog, being a website can be easily and quickly updated, categorized and can help to order the chaotic thoughts and experiences we all have, while learning. Students can challenge, argue, hear other perspectives, analyze and reflect which will boost their knowledge power. Another advantage of blogging is that we can embed photos, audio and video clips, hyperlinks, online testing etc in a blog to get a complete feel of the subject. All the references within a subject area are readily accessible.Neethika Nairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13745667850220981529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-36152959978757990632009-11-28T01:15:15.044+13:002009-11-28T01:15:15.044+13:00This comment has been removed by the author.Neethika Nairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13745667850220981529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-18831618423040110342009-11-26T23:00:44.051+13:002009-11-26T23:00:44.051+13:00@Catherine, thanks for your comments and guess wha...@Catherine, thanks for your comments and guess what me too started just this year blogging as part of course requirement and have learned heaps, just worried about absorbing it though .(maybe have links/references in my blogs for future). Blogs have encouraged me to formulate my thoughts better(much better) and interact with other participants, which in a traditional set-up would have taken more “pushing” from the tutor. It’s my “voice”, that i have captured, and can look back on my learning journey.<br /> I also believe if there is a proper linking or tie up of different tools just the way our course was delivered through wikis and blogs, we got exposed to so many tools and they will be beneficial when we take our step into online facilitation<br />As Krishan mentioned, learning through links would be acknowledging the sources and also sinking-deep in the subject.I too liked Jagadish’s ice-berg analogy,in f-2-f even if the teacher actually does cover all content how much can we absorb straightaway and answer back. In this instance, the process of thinking could lead to more knowledge.<br /><br />@Ajit , thanks for your comment and YES you have “pinned it” i too come from those days when Web didn’t exist and we had to sit for hours to arrive @ a solution, i hear you ajit <br />I miss the challenge we faced those days, but looking back even those days we used to learn from one-another collaboratively ,i remember us in the staff room discussing the technical problems we faced , and how you and others used to come up with solutions. Now the peer circle can be larger, you can have a support from someone who you haven’t ever met, but possibly you have learnt a lot in this arena without face-to-face contact. Amazing isn’t it?<br />I do agree about your argument on under –evaluating and not appreciating the contents worth, because copyright policies are not followed by one and all. However, academically learners are encouraged to learn the concept of referencing and are expected to follow acknowledging and referencing & yes it is a boon for someone who might learn so much through blogs (or other user generate content in wikis etc). It has high scope of interactivity with the wide world, you are not controlled by time & distance and the reach and access has not only changed the way we think and learn but how we live.<br /><br />Cheers,MeenaMeenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04543295882581098502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-63780941067092420562009-11-26T05:58:37.907+13:002009-11-26T05:58:37.907+13:00blogging is not new, its same as people earlier us...blogging is not new, its same as people earlier use to maintain diary, but BIG difference is reach and access.<br /><br />using blog to teach and learn academics and professional work (especially)is of course no doubt becoming as a boon to someone who is stuck up.<br /><br />but personally i feel only one risk in it that, when we get access to power of knowledge so easily we tend to under-evaluate and fail to appreciate and apprehend the worth of it and efforts behind it.<br /><br />With ready access to answers we instantly jump to the destination and not reach it ourselves. <br /><br />Before the internet Bang happened, especially the software folks used to get to the answers and solutions themselves, today there is galore information access to everyone but very few are armed with for recreating a solution.Ajit Joghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18110663530168851234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-28233275161974445312009-11-25T14:58:55.955+13:002009-11-25T14:58:55.955+13:00Hi Meena,
There is some great discussion happening...Hi Meena,<br />There is some great discussion happening here, and the presentation was thought provoking also :)<br />Jagadish mentioned blogs as a great learning tool to facilitate peer-to-peer learning, and I would agree wholeheartily. I only started blogging this year because it was a requiremnet for two of the GradCertAppld eLearning papers I have done this year, and I would say that I have learnt a lot from the posts, comments and discussion generated through the use of blogs.As Jagadish also stated peer-to-peer learning happens very rarely in a face-to-face environment, perhaps this is because f2f teaching is still predominately teacher led. I also liked the iceburg analogy in the YouTube presentation, being given links to further readings is great. I think Krishnan made a valid reference to this with regard to source of information give by teachers in a f2f class.<br />regards,<br />Catherinecatherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02887976230842891620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8429539960478746053.post-75671375890901055172009-11-25T13:24:40.344+13:002009-11-25T13:24:40.344+13:00THanks for sharing your weblink http://room7enviro...THanks for sharing your weblink http://room7enviro.blogspot.com/ Katie.(guys there is a .(dot) missing after enviro in Katie's post :-)).Such a wonderful initiative taken by you and all involved in implementing blog for 5 year olds (good amount of time spent),it clearly shows how they have used this tool to express what they are learning and what they will be learning and some problem solving as well,incredible.<br />I understand your concerns whether they will blog in your absence,but with habit,reminder and practice some may get proactive in blogging.As they grow with blogging, they are sure to improve their writing skills (and grammar), because with the abreviation'al text message culture we were kind of loosing it.<br />Cheers<br />MeenaMeenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04543295882581098502noreply@blogger.com