Comments on: Using a blog to encourage critical reflection http://hackademic.net/2007/06/26/using-a-blog-to-encourage-critical-reflection/ hackademic.net -- journalism, teaching and learning, the media, research, and more... <br> ... from the perspective of a journalism educator Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:54:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Serendipities http://hackademic.net/2007/06/26/using-a-blog-to-encourage-critical-reflection/comment-page-1/#comment-155 Serendipities Sun, 05 Aug 2007 14:18:40 +0000 http://hackademic.net/2007/06/26/using-a-blog-to-encourage-critical-reflection/#comment-155 [...] Hewett at Hackademic has posted his presentation on the use of a blog to help students reflect on their practical [...] [...] Hewett at Hackademic has posted his presentation on the use of a blog to help students reflect on their practical [...]

]]> By: Jonathan Hewett http://hackademic.net/2007/06/26/using-a-blog-to-encourage-critical-reflection/comment-page-1/#comment-36 Jonathan Hewett Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:06:42 +0000 http://hackademic.net/2007/06/26/using-a-blog-to-encourage-critical-reflection/#comment-36 Thanks for your comments. Guy -- good point about the implications of publishing online. Initially I set up the blog with the students to be accessible to anyone who knew the URL. However, one student said she wanted to blog about aspects of her work experience on the Daily Xyzabc and felt uneasy about doing this as the news editor (and others) there could potentially read it. I then made it accessible to registered contributors only (ie students and tutors) -- with some reluctance because it would also rule out interaction with those outside the course. We didn't make full use of the online functionality -- but that was not the main aim; encouraging critical reflection was. At the same time, having the blog rather than paper journals made students familiar with that medium; enabled everyone to see what was being posted; enabled hyperlinks, embedded video etc; and started to get students to 'think digitally' more. Alfred -- interesting to hear someone else's experiences of this. Have you undertaken any evaluation of the blog(s) and the learning from using it/them? I'd be interested to know what assessment criteria you used; whether each student had their own blog; and, following Guy's comment and my response, whether it was accessible to anyone. If the latter, are you prepared to share the URL(s)?! Thanks for your comments.

Guy — good point about the implications of publishing online. Initially I set up the blog with the students to be accessible to anyone who knew the URL. However, one student said she wanted to blog about aspects of her work experience on the Daily Xyzabc and felt uneasy about doing this as the news editor (and others) there could potentially read it. I then made it accessible to registered contributors only (ie students and tutors) — with some reluctance because it would also rule out interaction with those outside the course.

We didn’t make full use of the online functionality — but that was not the main aim; encouraging critical reflection was. At the same time, having the blog rather than paper journals made students familiar with that medium; enabled everyone to see what was being posted; enabled hyperlinks, embedded video etc; and started to get students to ‘think digitally’ more.

Alfred — interesting to hear someone else’s experiences of this. Have you undertaken any evaluation of the blog(s) and the learning from using it/them?

I’d be interested to know what assessment criteria you used; whether each student had their own blog; and, following Guy’s comment and my response, whether it was accessible to anyone. If the latter, are you prepared to share the URL(s)?!

]]> By: hackademic.net — journalism • learning • teaching = journalism education » Using a course blog to encourage critical reflection by students -- HEA annual conference http://hackademic.net/2007/06/26/using-a-blog-to-encourage-critical-reflection/comment-page-1/#comment-14 hackademic.net — journalism • learning • teaching = journalism education » Using a course blog to encourage critical reflection by students -- HEA annual conference Tue, 03 Jul 2007 21:17:33 +0000 http://hackademic.net/2007/06/26/using-a-blog-to-encourage-critical-reflection/#comment-14 [...] who have read my previous post (and notes) on this project, based on my WJEC session, will note similarities! It’s mainly a [...] [...] who have read my previous post (and notes) on this project, based on my WJEC session, will note similarities! It’s mainly a [...]

]]> By: Alfred Hermida http://hackademic.net/2007/06/26/using-a-blog-to-encourage-critical-reflection/comment-page-1/#comment-13 Alfred Hermida Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:42:34 +0000 http://hackademic.net/2007/06/26/using-a-blog-to-encourage-critical-reflection/#comment-13 Interesting presentation Joanthan. I used blogs in the graduate journalism course at the University of British Columbia. The students had to chose an issue to blog on for a semester, posting two entries per week. The aim was to combine the idea of focusing on a beat with commentary/analysis. As you might expect, some students excelled while other struggled to break out of the conventions of news reporting. Interesting presentation Joanthan. I used blogs in the graduate journalism course at the University of British Columbia. The students had to chose an issue to blog on for a semester, posting two entries per week. The aim was to combine the idea of focusing on a beat with commentary/analysis. As you might expect, some students excelled while other struggled to break out of the conventions of news reporting.

]]> By: Guy Berger http://hackademic.net/2007/06/26/using-a-blog-to-encourage-critical-reflection/comment-page-1/#comment-10 Guy Berger Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:38:36 +0000 http://hackademic.net/2007/06/26/using-a-blog-to-encourage-critical-reflection/#comment-10 I liked your slides on the parameters for the blog. Keeps the key purpose in mind and upfront. In your shoes, I would also have cautioned students that there are implications for going online - eg. sloppy spelling, stoopid remarks can come back to haunt you later in life when people Google you. That this is not just a diary, it's publishing. In addition, I'm not sure that much of the functionality you specify could not have been achieved in paper journals. That's fine - but have you really explored the extra functionality that a blog can offer (eg. visual records, highlighting linkages, tags, clouds n swarms, databasing)? Can students push the envelope with this? I liked your slides on the parameters for the blog. Keeps the key purpose in mind and upfront.

In your shoes, I would also have cautioned students that there are implications for going online – eg. sloppy spelling, stoopid remarks can come back to haunt you later in life when people Google you. That this is not just a diary, it’s publishing.

In addition, I’m not sure that much of the functionality you specify could not have been achieved in paper journals. That’s fine – but have you really explored the extra functionality that a blog can offer (eg. visual records, highlighting linkages, tags, clouds n swarms, databasing)? Can students push the envelope with this?

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