Blogging: Pros and Cons for Adult Learners

My alternate title - Blogging:  A Scary New World!

From my limited experience, I would have to say that blogging offers a very different learning experience than a discussion board.  From the get-go, blogging just seems more personal – perhaps because it is more personalized? The blog page is mine, it does not belong to a course or an institution- and, for reasons I can’t quite explain, this makes me feel as though I can express myself more openly (less formally?).  Carter (2011) tells us that blogging offers opportunities for communities of learners to engage in conversations, collaborations, and personal reflections. I agree, and feel the blog provides a link to other learners, a common ground of sorts -  on which you can share knowledge and build collegial relationships. And, by providing links to other websites and learning tools, the blog makes additional learning opportunities easily accessible and opens up the door to an endless supply of information.  In comparison, the discussion board felt static. Read to post. Read posts to comment. End of story. Even when the posts facilitated further discussion, that discussion was always held within the confines of a course, and, most times, it felt very rigid.

As an educator, I found Carter’s (2011) mention of using blogs for cross-disciplinary work very interesting. I am always looking for ways to use collaboration with other disciplines as a learning tool for my students. What can Nursing, Speech, Teacher Education, and Psychology students learn from each other? How can we, as faculty, promote a collaborative learning environment for these students? Well, today it hit me –a blog might very well do the trick! Carters' (2011) description of blogging participants becoming a "community of learners" makes me want to explore this idea further. 

 Witte (2007) proposes that blogs can help learners develop their “digital fluency” (p. 82). This may be true, but what about the learners who genuinely struggle to express themselves via the computer keyboard? While developing fluency is certainly a potential outcome, I feel there is also the potential to turn learners away due to their fear or frustration. If the learner does not embrace technology, their motivation may be negatively impacted--- thus impacting their participation and learning outcomes. As discussed by King and Cox (2011), I will have to consider my learners experience and fluency with technology and be ready to accommodate their readiness to learn (p. 12).  

I also realize some transformational learning has occurred while I’ve engaged in this, my first blogging experience.  Prior to reading the text and journal articles, and sitting down to put my thoughts together and write, I felt blogging was exactly as Santos (2011) describes it - “(…) the use of a blogs so far has been mainly for promotion, or informational, or even vanity” (p. 15).  I likened it to my feelings about many Facebook posts, and felt it was just another outlet for narcissism. Another way to say “Hey—look at me!"  But, I’ve learned a great deal this week, and now- through this blog- I can share my learning, and that’s not narcissism- it’s collaborating:)

References
Carter, T. (2011). Blogging as Reflective Practice in the Graduate Classroom. In Cox & King (Ed.). The professor's guide to taming technology: Leveraging digital media, Web 2.0, and more for learning. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. 

Cox T. & King, K. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology: Leveraging digital media, Web 2.0, and more for learning. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing

Santos, A. N. (2011). Blogs as a learning space: Creating texts of talks. Contemporary Issues in

Education Research, 4(6), 15-19.

Witte, S. (2007). That’s online writing, not boring school writing: Writing with blogs and the Talkback Project. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(2), 92-96.