reflective blogs latest (1)

Reflective Blogs: A Gate to Better Writing

Presented byHanan Oraby

Educational Goal Constraints

Proposal2

Why Reflection?

“A practice in which the writer describes a real or imaginal scene, event, interaction, passing thought, memory, form, adding a personal reflection on the meaning of the item or incident, thought, feeling, emotion, or situation in his or her life..” Schön (1983)

Why Reflection?This type of writing, as described by Schön, is exactly what our learners need to practice before they start their actual writing. When first come across a new topic, they deceptively think, and many learners actually do, that they can tell all about the topic, then they are stricken by the fact that they cannot write more than three lines about it. Essentially, they first need to reflect on the topic. This offers them an opportunity to trigger their prior knowledge, stimulate hidden ideas and also discover what they miss.

Main focusI aim at enhancing my learners’ reflective thinking through reflective writing practices before they actually start working on the drafts of their writing assignments. Through these practices, I want them to express themselves and develop their knowledge supported by the teacher's scaffolds and peers' reflections and feedback. These practices can hopefully lead to a genuine development which should be realized in the content of their assignments.

Constraint (A) Time

Teachers have to conform to a constraining pacing guide which does not allow them the time to implement such practices during class time.

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Integrating a social software tool, to be used outside the classroom, with our f2f writing practices as a necessity for the development of the learners' writing skills.

Suggestion

Constraint (B)Technology BackgroundOther than chatting on their mobile phones or posting comments on face book, most of our learners are not acquainted with the use of many other tools like blogs even as part of their recreational activities (L1 or L2).

ProposalA blog, if introduced tactfully and attractively, can be the most uncomplicated and suitable tool to be integrated with the traditional writing practices with the purpose of preparing these learners to be more reflective and to write more effectively.

Reflective BlogsTheory

About blogs About reflective blogs Approaches of blogs How it works: a. scaffolding tools b. peer support

(feedback/audience)

Evaluation

Practice Creating a blog Inviting learners to

join the blog

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About blogs“Practical constraints of time and space prevent students from sharing ideas as they occur in classroom discussions. Blogs provide a communication tool in which each student can participate in that learning community, posting, connecting, seeing, reading, thinking, and responding in a contagious rhythm that leads to greater participation within the thinking space of the classroom.” Kajder, S. (2003).

About blogsExclusively, the affordances of blogging provide opportunities for digital learners at all levels to practise self-directed learning and to offer social and cognitive support to their peers. Also, it provides "the emotional support of peers which is valuable to the novice learners and represents a useful strategy for enhancing the experience of the students" (Robertson 2011).

Elements of reflective blogs

A. Scaffolding Tools

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According to many theorists (e.g. Vygotsky, 1978; McLaughlin, 1998; McLaughlin & Oliver, 1998), scaffolded or assisted learning can increase "cognitive growth and understanding".

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In order to ensure the maximum benefit of the blog, teachers should be selective in the type of scaffolds they present:

a. The reflective practices are meant to prepare learners for their in-class writing assignments. Thus, tasks should tackle ideas which are relevant to the topics of their assignments.

A. Scaffolding Tools

b. Tasks should develop personalization. "Personalization will positively influence users' perceptions of the value of a blog service" Pi & Hsieh (2010). In order to do that, a reflective task should for example focus on: the learners' reactions to an event or experience, how the experience or thought links with other experiences and thoughts, what they have learned from the situation or the prompt proposed, and what they need to learn.

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C. Visualization: Teachers can display prompts in various forms by embedding attractive tools in the blog, e.g. videos, audios, photos, extracts from magazines…etc.

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About Reflective Blogs

Hall & Davison (2007) claim "Students are assumed to approach a subject with a set of naïve concepts that need to be challenged by the learning context. Through reflection on this experience, students explore for themselves the realities of the subject area. This leads to a growth in their knowledge. The challenge for tutors is how to encourage students to engage in deep, productive reflection during their studies in order to bring about the desired elaboration of their subject competence".

Approaches of reflective blogs

The socio constructiveSun (2010) states that "the pedagogical use of blogging is grounded in Vygotsky’s theory of social constructivism.". The Vygotsykian views of learning maintain the fact that a reflective blog can be the best choice for these learners. They touch more on how the cognitive development occurs as learners use the context and the resources given to take control of their own learning. Vygotsky has a unique view of learner's reflection: According to his (1978) concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) (1978), he views reflection as "the transferral of argumentation from a social level to an internal one". Reflection then can be a self-regulation which a learner achieves after a number of learning practices supported by learning resources within the ZPD.

In view of that, if a reflective blog can present the social support and the resources to the learner, it could be the right context which gradually transforms the learner's cognitive development from teacher-regulated to self regulated. According to Fong (2012), "a constructivist teacher creates a context for learning in which students can become engaged in interesting activities that encourages and facilitates learning".

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Approaches of reflective blogs

Creating A Blog

Inviting learners

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Context Foundation-year Saudi Female students - English Language Institute (ELI)

- King Abdul Aziz University A four-module general English course (7 weeks each module)– integrated

skills- different teachers

It’s a prerequisite course with 6 credits that students need to obtain to start a major at the university.

A placement test is required before taking the course.

Typically 25 students of a consistent level of English proficiency.

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•Context•Puzzle•Proposal•Approach•Examples•References

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Course books are provided with an LMS that only contain exercises that tackle reading, and listening skills in the form of MCQ and a CD with exercises that tackle vocabulary and grammar skills.

Each module has 2-MCQ exams tackling grammar, vocabulary, listening, and reading, 2 writing assessments and 2 speaking assessments

18 hours/week of f2f instruction ( 3- 4 hours a lecture).

A Data show device connected to the teacher’s computer + Internet connection.


Context

Puzzle

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-Limited f2f instruction that allows learners to reflect on and exchange ideas about the writing tasks in the curriculum-Very limited technology background

Developing Reflective Writing

Proposal Blending traditional f2f instruction with an easy access tool (a blog) where

learners are invited to:

a. reflect on the writing topics assigned in their curriculum (as a pre-writing task). “Practical constraints of time and space prevent students from sharing ideas as they occur in classroom discussions. Blogs provide a communication tool in which each student can participate in that learning community, posting, connecting, seeing, reading, thinking, and responding in a contagious rhythm that leads to greater participation within the thinking space of the classroom.” Kajder, S. (2003).

b. view and exchange ideas, comments so they feel their ideas are appreciated (from teacher or colleagues). To decrease the teacher’s control and develop learner-learner’s liability.

c. gain bonus marks for participation in the blog.

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A blog not a wiki?

1st experience with blended learning (not to be lost in the wiki space)

Members of the blog can comment on a post, no one is able to change a comment or post made by another.

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Blogs are a good forum for individuals to express their own opinions. (Understanding the Pedagogies of Blogs, Wikis and Discussion Boards)

Hani A. Weshah , Jordan (2012)

‘Frequent writing improves writing’, ‘Writing for an audience improves

writing’, ‘Writing that matters improves writing’, and ‘Writing on a computer improves writing’. Bernstein (2004)

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About blogs ...


A positive impact on learners’ writing fluency and increased their

motivation to write for a broad audience. Peer feedback on the content prompted further discussion, whereas linguistic feedback from the instructor encouraged focus on form for language accuracy. (Lee 2010)

“The commenting feature of blogging is good for feedback, critiques, participation, and discussions for educational purposes. He emphasized that “a blog can be a strong tool for collaborating online” (p. 324).Stauffer (2002)

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About blogs ...

According to Kent (1999), writing is not centered on the process but in the communication, and students should focus on language use as the content to be communicated.


Socio-Cognitive Approach

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A reflective blog proves to have a potential impact on constructing the learner’s knowledge and thinking, especially if it is used efficiently.

“Effective use of weblogs promoted the constructivist models of learning by supporting both cognitive and social knowledge construction, and by reinforcing individual accountability in learning.” (Du, 2007)

Type of blog activities or tasks

Activities/Tasks should:

Relate to upcoming topics that will be written or discussed during class time.

Foster genuine interaction

“Encourage real interaction with peers could include using “real” readers who are individuals the writers know from real social encounters (friends, roommates, colleagues, other classes, etc.). These types of assignments bring writers into direct relation and communicative interaction with others” (Ewald,2002; G. Olson, 2002; Reiff, 2002).

Develop personalization: helping learners to relate the new prompt or content proposed by to their real life issues.

Other tools such as, videos, pictures, journals, newspaper extracts are embedded in the blog to ensure authenticity and increase motivation.


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Example of the blog postsToday, in class, we talked about the advantages and disadvantages of getting older . Now it’s time to watch a video about a 105 year-old American woman talking about her past and present experiences in life, revealing the secrets of happiness.

Task One:Comment briefly on her ideas and concepts in life

Task Two:Discuss to what extent her ideas agree or disagree with yours and which part she mentions you found most inspiring.


A writing blog: A technology or A gate to technology?

Due to the superficial engagement of this group of learners to learning technologies, the proposed weblog is meant to offer them an opportunity to reflect on their knowledge of the world, practice sharing it and benefit from the interaction that takes place, a learning aspect that is not much practiced within limited class time.

Oliver Wrede (2003) presented a paper on Weblogs and Discourse at a conference in Vienna, entitled “Weblogs as a Transformational Technology for Higher Education and Academic Research.” He stated,

“Weblogs are not special because of their technology but because of

the practice and authorship they shape” (p. 2).

References Bernstein, M. (2004). Do weblogs improve writing? Retrieved January 29, 2005, from

http://markbernstein.org/Jan0401.html#note_35302

Kajder, S. (2003). Scaffolding for Struggling Students Reading and Writing with Blogs Sources Scaffolding for Struggling Students. 31, 4.

Hall, H. (2007). Social software as support in hybrid learning environments: The value of the blog as a tool for reflective learning and peer support

Jones, ShJ. (2006): Blogging And Esl Writing: a Case Study Of How Students Responded To The Use Of Weblogs As A Pedagogical Tool For The Writing Process Approach In A Community College Esl Writing Class

Lee, L. (2010). Fostering reflective writing and interactive exchange through blogging in an advanced language course. ReCALL, 22, pp 212-227. doi:10.1017/S095834401000008X.

Hs, Du. (2007).Learning With Weblogs: Enhancing Cognitive and Social Knowledge Construction Weshah , H. (2012) . (Understanding the Pedagogies of Blogs, Wikis and Discussion Boards)

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http://markbernstein.org/Jan0401.html#note_35302