November 3, 2010

Blogging Your Way to Cultural UnderstandingSylvie Debevec Henning, International Studies Program

Luci Fernandes, Department of Anthropology

Benefits for the Instructors

The Cyber Notebook

A shift from an old way of doing things:• no more collecting a stack of notebooks• quicker correction/turn around time• Access not limited to professor• Audience is now the entire class•Collaborative effort•Peer pressure: entries are not anonymous•Students take assignment more seriously because remarks are in an open forum

Teachers, Don’t fear technology!

•Easier than you think (IT training and support readily available)•Greater access to student assignments (more often, more flexible•More opportunities for seeing what students have learned and to correct misconceptions or factual errors•Ability to customize blog to meet class needs

–Variety of formats–Inclusion of photos, links, podcasts, vidcasts

Avenues for Further Exploration

•Including international partners in the blog dialogue•Developing and assigning podcasts and vidcasts

AbstractA blog is an innovative way for students to maintain the reflective journal that is required in the Global Understanding course. Students share reactions to course readings and cultural observations after linking sessions with international partners. Their interactions with one another outside the classroom help overcome class time restrictions, expand opportunities for peer to peer learning and create a sense of student ownership. By democratizing discussion, the blog helps students articulate their ideas more freely, develops critical thinking skills and builds confidence. The technology is flexible enough to allow for inclusion of media. So far student response has been enthusiastic.

Structured Blogging Task

•Students are required to:•Post after every class, field trip, guest speaker and reading assignment•To comment on the post of their classmates•To ask a question, either a general question or one directed to a specific classmate

“Collaborative Constructionism”*

•Collaboration "goes beyond simple interaction in the sense that it is clearly focused on a problem or dilemma where students are deeply engaged in purposeful discourse to construct meaning and collaboratively share meaning and validate understanding" (Garrison and Akyol p. 23).•“Blog conversations [offer students] opportunities to reflect on course related concepts outside of the class and to share different perspectives on the course material.” (Halic, et al, p.)•Blogging stimulate[s] student thinking and learning by offering alternative perspectives related to the course content, “triggering careful examination of the content” and extending discussion about course content outside of the class. (Sharma and Xie p.143)

*Halic, et al.

Peer to Peer Learning

•Democratizes the discussion•Students develop confidence in the articulation and development of their own ideas with a minimum of faculty intervention

Community Building

•“Network orientation” helps students develop a social rather than simply a writing/textual orientation (Burgess, 2006, pp. 109-110).•Virtual international community established through Global Classroom technology •Sense of local community created that goes beyond the classroom through blogging

Developing Critical Thinking Skills

•Sharing knowledge•Validating understanding•Becoming aware of different perspectives and interpretations within one’s own culture •Coming to understand that students from other cultures may have distinctive perspectives and interpretations

ConclusionBlogging provides students with opportunities to comment on what they have heard and read, to see what their classmates are posting, to ask questions and to respond to the comments of others. These peer to peer interactions are relatively rare in the classroom and often rather artificial and stilted. Blogging interactions are less inhibited by the classroom setting and professorial oversight. Students become aware of both insider and outsider perspectives. They learn about themselves and their own culture as they learn about other cultures. This learning is heightened when the class includes exchange students from non-linking countries. Thus blogging can help them develop a better sense of their own personal identity as well as of their own cultural/group identity.

Benefits for the Students

IntroductionINTL 1050 and ANTH 1050 are sections of the Global Understanding class, the first taught by the director of the International Studies program, the second by a member of the Anthropology faculty. Both classes meet in the Global Classroom. Class time is divided between face to face sessions that use video conferencing and Internet chatrooms to link ECU students with students in partner institutions around the world. Blogging creates additional opportunities for student interaction outside the classroom. One of the ways we have chosen to help develop cultural understanding is through a blog that transforms the traditional reflective journal into an open forum of discourse. The Blog is being used to post journal entries. The goals were for students to reflect on what they heard and read as well as to interact with their peers outside the classroom environment. They were assigned the task of posting after every class, field trip, guest speaker and reading assignment. They were required to comment on what they learned through each activity and to dialogue with their classmates through questions and responses.

How Can Blogging Help Develop Cultural Understanding?

Students share with their classmates a new awareness of daily routines, customs, and behaviors in other cultures. Students share with their classmates what they have learned about their partners’ feelings, concerns, values and attitudes. Students then compare what they have learned about other cultures to what they know and feel about their own culture. Through interacting and dialoguing with their classmates, students come to appreciate the range of perspectives that exist around the world.

What Do We Mean By Cultural Understanding?•Understanding of the diversity of cultures that exist around the world •Understanding that culture encompasses “the whole way of life of a people or group” (Montgomery and Reid-Thomas, 1994:5)•Understanding of both differences and similarities between and among culturesWhy Should We Develop Cultural Understanding?•Develop curiosity toward other cultures and our own•Challenge cultural intolerance and develop cultural tolerance•Recognize the diversity of ways of dealing with life situations•Develop critical thinking as citizens•Become aware of one’s own cultural identity or identities

What Do We Mean By Cultural Understanding?•Understanding of the diversity of cultures that exist around the world •Understanding that culture encompasses “the whole way of life of a people or group” (Montgomery and Reid-Thomas, 1994:5)•Understanding of both differences and similarities between and among culturesWhy Should We Develop Cultural Understanding?•Develop curiosity toward other cultures and our own•Challenge cultural intolerance and develop cultural tolerance•Recognize the diversity of ways of dealing with life situations•Develop critical thinking as citizens•Become aware of one’s own cultural identity or identities

What Do We Mean By Cultural Understanding?

• Understanding of the diversity of cultures that exist around the world • Understanding that culture encompasses “the whole way of life of a people or group” (Montgomery and Reid-Thomas, 1994:5)• Understanding of both differences and similarities between and among cultures

Why Should We Develop Cultural Understanding?

• Develop curiosity toward other cultures and our own• Challenge cultural intolerance and develop cultural tolerance• Recognize the diversity of ways of dealing with life situations• Develop critical thinking as citizens• Become aware of one’s own cultural identity or identities

Works Cited

Burgess, J. (2006). “Blogging to learn, learning to blog,” in A. Bruns & J. Jacobs (Eds.), Uses of blogs (pp. 105-115). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing. Garrison, D., & Akyol, Z. (2009). “Role of instructional technology in the transformation of higher education.” Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 21(1), 19-30. Halic, O., Lee, D., Paulus, T. & Spence, M., “To blog or not to blog: Student perceptions of blog effectiveness for learning in a college-level course,” The Internet and Higher Education (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.04.001 Montgomery M & H Reid-Thomas (1994) Language and Social life, The British Council, 1994. Ying Xie, Fengfeng Ke, Priya Sharma, “The effect of peer feedback for blogging on college students' reflective learning processes” Internet and Higher Education 11 (2008) 18–25.

Burgess, J. (2006). “Blogging to learn, learning to blog,” in A. Bruns & J. Jacobs (Eds.), Uses ofblogs (pp. 105-115). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing. Garrison, D., & Akyol, Z. (2009). “Role of instructional technology in the transformation ofhigher education.” Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 21(1), 19-30.Halic, O., Lee, D., Paulus, T. & Spence, M., “To blog or not toblog: Student perceptions of blog effectiveness for learning in a college-level course,” TheInternet and Higher Education (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.04.001Ying Xie, Fengfeng Ke, Priya Sharma, “The effect of peer feedback for blogging on college students' reflective learning processes” Internet and Higher Education 11 (2008) 18–25.

Burgess, J. (2006). “Blogging to learn, learning to blog,” in A. Bruns & J. Jacobs (Eds.), Uses ofblogs (pp. 105-115). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing. Garrison, D., & Akyol, Z. (2009). “Role of instructional technology in the transformation ofhigher education.” Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 21(1), 19-30.Halic, O., Lee, D., Paulus, T. & Spence, M., “To blog or not toblog: Student perceptions of blog effectiveness for learning in a college-level course,” TheInternet and Higher Education (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.04.001Ying Xie, Fengfeng Ke, Priya Sharma, “The effect of peer feedback for blogging on college students' reflective learning processes” Internet and Higher Education 11 (2008) 18–25.

Burgess, J. (2006). “Blogging to learn, learning to blog,” in A. Bruns & J. Jacobs (Eds.), Uses ofblogs (pp. 105-115). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing. Garrison, D., & Akyol, Z. (2009). “Role of instructional technology in the transformation ofhigher education.” Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 21(1), 19-30.Halic, O., Lee, D., Paulus, T. & Spence, M., “To blog or not toblog: Student perceptions of blog effectiveness for learning in a college-level course,” TheInternet and Higher Education (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.04.001Ying Xie, Fengfeng Ke, Priya Sharma, “The effect of peer feedback for blogging on college students' reflective learning processes” Internet and Higher Education 11 (2008) 18–25.

Burgess, J. (2006). “Blogging to learn, learning to blog,” in A. Bruns & J. Jacobs (Eds.), Uses ofblogs (pp. 105-115). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing. Garrison, D., & Akyol, Z. (2009). “Role of instructional technology in the transformation ofhigher education.” Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 21(1), 19-30.Halic, O., Lee, D., Paulus, T. & Spence, M., “To blog or not toblog: Student perceptions of blog effectiveness for learning in a college-level course,” TheInternet and Higher Education (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.04.001Ying Xie, Fengfeng Ke, Priya Sharma, “The effect of peer feedback for blogging on college students' reflective learning processes” Internet and Higher Education 11 (2008) 18–25.

Burgess, J. (2006). “Blogging to learn, learning to blog,” in A. Bruns & J. Jacobs (Eds.), Uses ofblogs (pp. 105-115). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing. Garrison, D., & Akyol, Z. (2009). “Role of instructional technology in the transformation ofhigher education.” Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 21(1), 19-30.Halic, O., Lee, D., Paulus, T. & Spence, M., “To blog or not toblog: Student perceptions of blog effectiveness for learning in a college-level course,” TheInternet and Higher Education (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.04.001Ying Xie, Fengfeng Ke, Priya Sharma, “The effect of peer feedback for blogging on college students' reflective learning processes” Internet and Higher Education 11 (2008) 18–25.

Example of Blog Discussion