Blogging is Addictive! a Qualitative Case Study on the Integration of Blogs Across a Range of College Level Courses

Abstract

The proliferation of social media, new generations of digital natives and the profusion of wireless campuses promise to revolutionise teaching and learning in the twenty-first century. No consensus exists on how to introduce Web 2.0 technologies into an educational context, so whilst it is intuitive that educators have a vital role in determining and evaluating the uses and implications of social media, there is a lack of research both into general pedagogic questions and into the particulars of introducing blogs to the classroom. The potential for blogging in education is explored through a review of international research, exemplars of good practice are cited and a qualitative case study of the integration of social media across a range of college level courses is presented. Vignettes from the case study illustrate both the successes enjoyed and the difficulties encountered introducing individual and group blogs. The majority of students endorse the use of blogs and report how blogs support their learning by codifying search trails, improving writing styles, help the visualisation of the process of their own and classmates’ work, how group blogs facilitate the coordination of collaborative projects and how for many blogging has become an integral part of their educational experience.

Citation

Radclyffe-Thomas, N. (2012), "Blogging is Addictive! a Qualitative Case Study on the Integration of Blogs Across a Range of College Level Courses", Wankel, C. and Blessinger, P. (Ed.) Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Online Learning Activities (Cutting-Edge Technologies in Higher Education, Vol. 6 Part A), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 75-107. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2044-9968(2012)000006A006