Blogging for personal reflection

You may be required to use a blog as part of your studies either by setting up
and maintaining a personal blog, on the web, or by using the Blackboard blog
tool which your tutor has set up for you.

1. Blogs in Blackboard

For Blackboard, if you have been instructed to submit periodic blogs

through the unit or block site, you will find detailed instructions here

However, the simplest way to get started is by clicking the “Assess” tab
on your Blackboard Module and then “Reflective Blogs”. You will find there
a named blog is waiting for you. Only you and the Unit Leader can read
this. When you click on View, use the 'New Entry' tab (top right of page)
to make each entry. You can edit or delete this entry as often as you like
before the deadline.

This blog is your FORMAL, ASSESSED assignment for the Unit. It takes the
form of a reflective statement based on your experience of working with
the material in the Unit. The Blog Schedule is also in a folder under
“Assess” and you must complete the Blog by the submission date
provided in your Course Schedule.

2. Blogs on the web

If you are setting up your own, web-based blog, a good place to start is
Blogger.com where you will find simple and clear instructions on how to begin
and how to customise and develop your own blog.
3. So what exactly is a blog and what is it used for?

First you might want to look at this short video

And here’s a blog entry about the usefulness of blogging. This is an online blog
and there is a space at the bottom for you to leave comments. Why not leave
one now? Do you agree with the points made? What is your view? I write this
particular blog and I’d be really pleased to get some feedback from you.

Here’s another blog exploring the value of the blog in learning…..

Further information on the educational use of blogs can be found in the

Appendix to this guide.

4. Getting started

A great way to start with blogs is to read other people’s first, so you get an idea
of what you want to write about and the style you might want to adopt. Here are
some others to look at- as you see the topics and intended audience can be very
varied:

http://www.stephenfry.com/blog/

http://daydreamlily.blogspot.com/

http://thesecretlifeofamanicdepressive.wordpress.com/

http://clayoven.wordpress.com/

http://www.xlearn.co.uk/blogger.html

See if you can find others – search via Google blog search or “blogs of note” on
Blogger.com
5. Key tips for blogging

• Start with a short introduction about yourself and your blog and invite
people* to make comments, giving you feedback. (*This is only possible if
your blog is public and hosted on the web. In Blackboard your blog is
private between you and your tutor).

• Most people feel very self conscious when they first start to blog and think
they have nothing to say that anyone else will be interested in reading.
Gradually your confidence will increase – but only if you practise. As with
most things, little and often is the key.

• Blogs don’t all need to be in words! You can easily upload pictures and
even videos to illustrate what you want to say, as you will have noticed in
some of the blogs listed above. This is possible whether you are using
Blogger or Blackboard.

• One important tip is not to write your blog first in a different programme
(say, a Word document) and then attempt to cut and paste it into the blog.
Although technically this is possible, you will probably encounter problems
with the formatting and the finished product won’t look the way you
intended.

• Don’t forget that you can edit and re-edit your blog as often as you like.
With Blogger.com you can save entries as drafts until you are quite sure
you want to publish them – but even then you can go back and change
them at any time!

• Make sure you stay within copyright law if you are using videos, pictures
or quotes: everything needs to be fully acknowledged and referenced just
as in a conventional assignment; you may also need others’ permission to
use their images or illustrations.

• Take care of your digital identity! A simple guide and workbook on the
protection of your privacy and development of a positive online identity
can be found in this free download.
 6. Blogs for summative and formative assessment

Here’s a sample blog from Blackboard which gives a flavour of the length and
content expected in the short reflective blogs you are expected to contribute

Work
context
explaine
d
Evidenc

persona

learning
e of

The structure of a piece of reflective writing has to cover:

1. Describe: What happened? Who was involved? What was your role?
2. Reflect: What went well, what went badly? What was significant?
3. Analyse: Why did what happened happen? In what ways was it useful for
you personal and professional development?
4. Conclude: What have you learned? What will you do the same or
differently next time?

A typical schedule for the blogs to be submitted (the topics will be

different depending on the subject studied):

Entry 1: Reflect on the extent of your previous experience of the content of this
Unit (Presentation Skills, Interacting with others and Teamworking skills)
including your reasons for completing this course.
Entry 2: Identify and reflect on a recent time when you have presented
information verbally or in a written form to colleagues at work
Entry 3: Identify and reflect on a recent time when you have used your
interpersonal/communication skills to good effect at work.
Entry 4: Identify and reflect on a recent time when you have managed a team of
colleagues.
Entry 5: At the end of the course, reflect on your completion of it.

Criteria against which the piece of work will be judged

A good blog will:

Clearly relate to the work context
Display evidence of in-depth critical reflection (i.e. – not merely a description of
what happened, but what you learned from this and perhaps also how it relates
to theories and concepts you have studied)
Appendix 1

Educational Uses of Blogs

“Weblogs” or “blogs”, a term coined by Jorn Barger in 1997, are online

public writing environments, which enable a single author or a group of
authors to write and publicly display articles, called posts, which are listed
in reversed chronological order (Ellison & Wu, 2008; Anderson, 2007).
Depending on the author’s wishes, blogs can include visual, audio and
video content, as well as features such as links to other blogs, information
about the author, and comments from readers (Ellison & Wu, 2008; OECD,
2007). The large number of people engaged in blogging has given rise to
its own term – blogosphere – to express the sense of a whole ‘world’ of
bloggers operating in their own environment (Anderson, 2007)…………..

In educational settings, blogs can be used (1) by institutions and teachers

as an easy way to produce dynamic learning environments for course
announcements, news and feedback to students; (2) by students as digital
portfolios to collect and present their work; (3) among a group of learners,
using their individual blogs, to build up a corpus of interrelated knowledge
via posts and comments, enhancing collaboration; and (4) with the aim of
linking, via syndication technologies, different groups of learners and
teachers (Franklin & van Harmelen, 2007; Bartolomé, 2008; Farmer, 2006;
Ray, 2006; Berson & Berson, 2006; Kim, 2008).

Educational benefits are projected specifically in the following areas:

1. Blogging can enhance reflection as well as analytical, critical and

creative thinking by encouraging students to engage with positions
divergent from their own (Ellison & Wu, 2008; Farmer, 2006; Akbulut,
2007; Berson & Berson, 2006; Kahn, 2007); 2. Blogs can enhance
communication and promote more engaged learning, increasing student
motivation and participation (Berson & Berson, 2006; Farmer et al., 2008;
Utrecht, 2007; Kim, 2008);
3. Blogging is an effective tool for user centred, participatory learning,
highlighting the individual learners and their unique authorial voices
(Burgess, 2006; Akbulut, 2007; Ellison & Wu, 2008);
4. Writing for an internet audience not only enhances students’ writing
skills, but also gives them a sense of responsibility, authorship and
ownership (Farmer et al., 2008; Ellison & Wu, 2008; Akbulut, 2007);
5. Blogs offer an opportunity for students to experiment (in a protected
environment) with different persona and expand their friendships; blogs
foster deeper and more meaningful interactions and help develop the
social and civic skills (Berson & Berson, 2006).

Redecker, C ; (2009) Review of Learning 2.0 Practices: Study on the Impact of

Web 2.0 Innovations on Education and Training in Europe (European Commission
Joint Research Centre Institute for Prospective Technological Studies) p33
Appendix 2

Other uses of blogs

Blogs can be used for collaboration and as forums for discussion. A post by
one user can have a number of comments added which takes the form of a
conversation between the author and their audience. Blogs can have multiple
authors and so many people can contribute to the development of a body of
knowledge. This is an example of a multi author blog.

In order to find linked postings for specific subjects, “tags” are used – short
labels which identify the key topics. In the multi author Learnex blog mentioned
above, click on the “categories” box and find posts with the tag “blogging”.

You can see the use of tags (or labels) more clearly in the Virtual Leader blog
where they are given at the foot of each posting, and in a list of all available
labels in a side panel.
Blogs can also be a quick an easy way of creating a website:

• to showcase your work, http://daydreamlily.blogspot.com/

• or to pass on skills and knowledge to others

(http://clayoven.wordpress.com/)