Project Title: Reflect and learn

Author: Adolfo D. Jaramillo

Key words: Blog, blogging, discussion forum, asynchronous

Summary: Blogging encourages reflection. Reflection enhances learning outcomes. Students from two different countries will view an image of the American flag and participate in an online blog discussion. The varying perspectives of the same image will produce a collage of thoughts and responses. The project is designed to help promote honesty and respect among the participating students.

Context: This project can be executed in a secondary level social science classroom.

Objective: Students will realize and learn to respect multiple points of view concerning a sole image.

PART 1: Rational For Project

This project was developed to help those students who participate to practice honesty and respect. Students from around the world and different countries translate a single image differently. This is caused by cultural differences. The way in which we view something in America may be completely different in the United Kingdom. Something normal to us in the United States may be completely out of the norm in France and so on. The story of the conqueror is much different than that of the conquered. Crazy Horse and the Lakota Nation lived and transcribed different histories than did the military and the US government during the same era. This project will attempt to shed the same light upon how groups of individuals view things differently under the same scope.

The presence of the United States is felt in many countries throughout the world. Americans view our presence in these other countries as “assistance” while the host country sometimes views our presence as “conflict”. Why is that? Perhaps a lack of honesty and/or respect is present. Is it a cultural difference? This project is designed for students from two different countries to discuss their points of view regarding a shared single image, the American flag.

The future of our world community lies in the hands of our youth. Too many times our world experiences unnecessary stress due to misunderstandings of culture and points of view. We must learn to ask why we are different yet similar in so many ways. The global approach is to identify commonalities amongst our known differences. This project strives to promote unity amongst our young global citizens.

PART 2: Project Description

The project is a blog discussion designed by the instructor for the students. The online discussion is intended to stimulate higher order thinking of the students. The asynchronous nature of the project gives students autonomy and freedom to respond at their convenience. A blog can be an extension of the classroom, where discussions are continued and where every student gets an equal voice. Blogs require minimum technical knowledge and are quickly and easily created and maintained. Since a basic blog is free and can be set up in less than 5 minutes, using them for both teaching and learning has low cost and high return on investment.

Sample lesson plan link:

http://lesson.taskstream.com/lessonbuilder/v.asp?LID=fvc0h5euhlhkh0ha

Sample blog link:

http://sonny-educ517.blogspot.com

PART 3: Evidence Supporting Project

How does learning occur?

According to Daniel Churchill (2009) blogs are an effective technology and useful blog-based activities for learning are the following: (1) reading blogs of others, (2) receiving comments and (3) previewing tasks of others and reading feedback received in relation to these. Encouragement for students to blog were: (1) regular learning tasks which require students to present outcomes in their blogs, (2) blogs being an assessment requirement and (3) regular blogging of a teacher. Through blogs, a teacher can create an ambience in which students feel themselves to be important parts of the classroom community and their needs and opinions are recognized and addressed.

Jo Ann Oravec (2003) states that weblogs (blogs) can serve as catalysts in stimulating critical thinking and inspiring students to be lifelong learners. Blog discussions also facilitate the development of individuals’ unique evaluative talents and creative expression. Blogs can be a ready outlet for dissemination of ideas that run counter to academic dogma or the stereotypical themes provided by popular broadcast media. Blogs in essence are another form of our freedom of speech. Oravec continues by stating that blogging has the potential to change the way many individuals get and disseminate information, insights, and opinions everyday. Producing a weblog on a daily basis can inspire students to develop articulate critical voices and relate to reader feedback. Weblog development underscores important insights concerning the social construction of knowledge, demonstrating how knowledge communities coalesce and underscoring the value of intellectual property. Weblogs can provide useful insights about the recent history of a field or profession as individuals trace through chronological posts.

Utilizing blog writing activities, Murray et al. (2007) examined the areas of creative expression, mandatory reflection, and language acquisition in an online course. As students were more personally engaged with the topic, the blog entries developed into a place of self-reflection (SR) where learners expressed the sense of self-discovery and personal growth. At the heart of the study, Murray et al. found a series of metacognitive roles for SR. For example, SR served a learning reminder, analyzer, and planner. In addition, Oliver (2007) reported that students generally appreciate the chance to read others’ blogs and learn about unfamiliar topics. Earlier studies found positive effects of online peer assessment (e.g., Liu & Tsai, 2005) and online discussion sessions coupled with streaming videos in improving ‘self-awareness’ leading to better learning.

In what environment can technology promote learning?

This project can be utilized when studying history in a social science classroom. The blog discussion is designed to encourage students to use critical thinking skills. The designer of the blog is encouraged to use Bloom’s Taxonomy to facilitate deep thought in part of the students. The designer is also encouraged to infuse global perspectives for students’ inquiry. The multiple perspectives given of a single image is the intent of the blog. The blog responses should reflect honesty and respect of all those who post. The project encourages students and instructors alike to engage with technology through the use and design of the blog. Items needed to complete the blog discussion are the following: desktop computers, laptop computers, and an Internet connection.

What is the process by which technology enhances learning?

The asynchronous nature of this project allows students to be creative and autonomous thinkers. The project also is designed to promote and produce higher order thinking through its blog prompts provided by the instructor. Linda Harasim (2000) highlights five attributes that make online education a unique environment for education. The first attribute is how ‘many-to-many’ (group communication) enables motivational benefits of working through problems with peers. Bloggers have an opportunity to compare, discuss, modify, and/or replace concepts. The second attribute notes how ‘time independence’ supports twenty-four-hour access. Bloggers can respond immediately or reflect and compose a response. The asynchronous nature of the blog supports student participation all week, and thereby creates ongoing knowledge building. The third attribute is ‘place independence’ which allows for access to the wealth of Web resources and shared interests, not just shared locations among participants. The fourth attribute mentioned by Harasim is ‘text-based/media-enriched messaging’ encourages and contributes to verbalization and articulation of ideas. They also provide for clear expression of ideas. The fifth and final attribute is ‘computer-mediated environments’ enable building tools to exchange and organize ideas and support collaborative learning. The blog becomes a community of learning through shared discussion underlined with honesty and mutual respect.

APPENDIX A

References

Blood, R. (2002). The Weblog Handbook, Practical advice on creating and maintaining your weblog. Cambridge: Perseus Publishing.

Churchill, D. (2009). Educational applications of Web 2.0: Using blogs to support teaching and learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40(1), 179-183.

Getner, D., Loewenstein, J., & Thompson, L. (2003). Learning and transfer: A general role for analogical encoding. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(2), 393-408.

Harasim, L. (2000). Shift happens: Online education as a new paradigm in learning. Internet and Higher Education, 3, 41-61.

Kim, P., Hong, J.S., Bonk, C., & Lim, G. (2009). Effects of group reflection variations in project-based learning integrated in a Web 2.0 learning space. Interactive Learning Environments, 14(3),1-17.

Liu, C., & Tsai, C. (2005). Peer assessment through web-based knowledge acquisition: Tools to support conceptual awareness. Innovations in Education and Teaching International,42(1), 43-59.

Murray, L., Hourigan, T., & Jeanneau, C. (2007). Blog writing integration for academic language learning purposes: Towards an assessment framework. Iberica, 14(2), 9-32.

Oliver, K. (2007). Leveraging Web 2.0 in the redesign of a graduate-level technology integration course. TechTrends, 51(5), 55-61.

Oravec, J.A. (2003). Blending by blogging: Weblogs in blended learning initiatives. Journal of Educational Media, 28(2-3), 225-233.

APPENDIX B

Rubric

 

Blog Rubric (20 possible points)

Content actions

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This work is licensed by Adolfo Jaramillo under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 3.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.

Last edited by Adolfo Jaramillo on May 7, 2011 4:01 pm -0500.