Blogging in Higher Education

An empirically grounded framework to guide

An Empirically Grounded Framework to Guide Blogging in Higher Education: Kerawalla

We are currently distance learners, something new for me.  When signing up for this course, I was a bit concerned as to how this format would play out and why would I need to have a blog.  Kerawalla's article makes some very valid points: Students can use blogs to gather resources (Huann et al. 2005) and to share these, and individual opinions, with others (Williams & Jacobs 2004).  This is very helpful when you are not physically in a classroom and need to bounce ideas of others who are working on the same curriculum.  Another benefit of blogging helps with instant feedback from the professor (Kerwalla, 2008). Overall, a blog used in higher learning is beneficial only if the student is motivated and able to blend the content of the class with the technology.
The four domains that Kawalla addresses are the results of semi-structured interviews. They consist of community presentation, audience and comments.   For our puproses, community is the students that are signed up for this class. Presentation is the actual blog, the way it looks and whether or not it is easy to negotiate.  Dialogue is the comments from the professor as well as the students in this virtual classroom. The final domain is the audience. In our learning, it is the virtual class, professor and anyone who feels they need to read our blogs.

The strategies, techniques, and approaches that teachers can use to facilitate learning

The second article by Tolisano, states that blogging can support 4 areas of learning: reading, writing, reflecting and sharing and can support strategies, techniques and facilitate learning in ones classroom.  Reading in a digital environment becomes a personal experience and a collaborative and connected experience.  Writing is less about text and more about communicating. Writing can be a form of reflection as well as communicating. Kawalla  and Tolisano, both agree that with blogging, one writes for an audience during which there is reflection.  When it is  published and shared it opens up communication to an audience.
Both articles intertwine the idea of 4 domains and how blogging can support educating students.  The strategies and techniques that are posed do in fact facilitate learning in a digital theater.