Blogs as Teaching Tools!

I've been using blogs in my communication classes here at Oregon State for the past three academic terms... and the students overwhelmingly love it! Although I intended to blog about the process of using blogs with my students, time got away from my once again and I let that fall completely by the wayside (we can save meta-blogging discussions for another time). I would, however, like to share the results of a study I conducted with the help of one of my graduate students.

Our project began with the underlying assumption that student motivation and engagement could be increased by putting their work online for a public audience. Normally students write strictly for their professors, essays are handed back, and the work gets thrown away or lost in a folder. By putting work online in the form of blogs, the work becomes part of the public domain and is geared toward a different audience. Not only is this more fun than writing a boring essay (who doesn't love adding pictures, videos, and a bit of personal flair?!), it encourages students to represent themselves more carefully by producing good work.

Students in my 'Communication in Organizations' class wrote blogs using Google's blogger site for class credit for an entire term. Each week they responded to a prompt that I provided, which meant they were consistently engaging the material on a weekly basis rather than writing one or two larger papers throughout the term. At the end of the term, the students participated in an in-depth interview with Julia, my grad student, about their experience blogging for class. She gathered their feedback regarding what they liked and disliked about using blogs in class, how it affected their motivation and engagement with the material, and suggestions they had for how professors can successfully use blogs as teaching tools. We transcribed all 24 interviews and then analyzed the data using a grounded theory approach.

The majority of the students were simultaneously surprised and excited when they first found out about the blogs at the beginning of the term. Although many professors around the U.S. are increasing the use of social media in the classroom, it's not common yet on our campus. Students reported in the interviews that they appreciated being able to design their own template and customize their blog to fit their personality. They enjoyed being able to include multi-media because pictures and video clips added an interest factor that simply doesn't exist when writing a traditional essay. They also reported spending substantially more time working on their blog than they would on a normal writing assignment -- partly because it was fun, but mostly  because they were hyper aware that anyone would be able to read it once they posted it to the web. My students indicated they were more motivated to produce good work because they wanted to establish a positive reputation for themselves with what they wrote.

The public nature of the blogs did raise concerns for some of the students. Although they recognize the importance of being able to navigate social media, it made some of them nervous to put themselves "out there" in the online universe for anyone to see. There is a level of vulnerability that comes with writing in the public domain. It is important for educators who are using these tools to be aware of this and manage it well in the classroom.

Several students reported sharing their blogs with family members and friends that didn't live nearby. I had one exchange student from Austria in the class, whose mom regularly posted comments on her blog. How cool is that?! Additionally, the students were able to view their classmates' work and compare it to their own. I frequently highlighted exceptional blogs during class, and a bit of healthy competition developed as a result. The students felt proud when their work got chosen and doing good work was actually promoted among the class.

I encourage my students to become as savvy at social media as they can, as it really is a necessity in today's job market. I emphasize that their blogs actually serve as a type of online portfolio -- a record of their work, which they can share and use to promote themselves (if done well and used strategically). The blogs also allowed a better student-professor relationship because I got to know them better through their blogs, which encouraged more face-to-face interaction as well.

I've used the feedback from my students to refine my process throughout the past few terms and it continues to be a successful approach for different classes. Julia and I traveled recently to the Western States Communication Association annual convention in Anaheim, where she presented our research. It was very well received and we had some terrific conversations with people using innovative teaching strategies at other institutions. It is exciting to see people adapting technology for use in the classroom! This is the world our students live in. We can reach them in much more meaningful ways when we can tap into the technology they are already using in their social lives and use it for the good of education!

I encourage you to experiment with blogs and other forms of social media in your classroom or your organization. They can facilitate good communication and better relationships, as well as promote education.