Engaging Students through Blogs: Using Blogs to Boost a Course Experience

Abstract

Globalization is irreversible and the Internet is increasingly used to connect people and share information worldwide. The proliferation of digital information allows us to make choices about how we gather information and use technology to enhance learning. This is especially true in an academic environment, where the Internet is often used as a tool to facilitate deeper learning.
 The focus of this study is to investigate whether and how to use blogs to boost student learning in a traditional learning environment where lecture based (didactic) instructional practices still prevailing. This paper will also look at Al-Ain University of Science and Technology (AAU) student perceptions of the benefits of blogs for enhancing college learning. 
 To explore these issues, Blogging was introduced to students in the Internet Technology class. A combination of one hundred and ninety-nine graduate and undergraduate AAU students answered an online questionnaire exploring their perceptions of blogs as a learning tool. Quantitative and qualitative data was also collected through open-ended questionnaires, student journals and reports, and end-of-class e-portfolios. 
 All statistical analyses were carried out with SPSS. Results indicate that blogs have the potential to empower and enhance student learning. Student response to using blogs in the course has been overwhelmingly positive.

Research-based learning in education studies: Design inquiry using group e-Portfolios based on blogs

“…One of the research areas is students' perceptions of the use of blogs for e-Portfolios. Some researchers report positive student perceptions of using blogs to enhance learning and peer interaction (Churchill, 2009;Halic, Lee, Paulus, & Spence, 2010;Shana & Abulibdehb, 2015;Tur & Marín, 2015;Yang & Chang, 2012); as well as a way of developing their digital skills (Goktas & Demirel, 2012;Neira-Piñeiro, Villalustre, & Del-Moral, 2013). Churchill's (2009) study shows that students valued being able to view the work of others and receive comments on their work the most.…”

The Relationship between Teaching Quality and Academic Engagement in Medical Students: a descriptive-correlational study

“…Janoos et al showed in their research that the academic engagement is closely related with academic factors to the extent that even students who are interested in studying drop out due to negative academic factors [22]. Shana et al (2015) also showed in their study the academic engagement could be useful in enhancing student learning and educational settings [23]. In the meantime, intra-university interactions such as student-professor interaction, student-student interaction, and student interaction with other educational bodies affect the level of academic engagement [24].…”

Boosting Students’ Confidence and Skill in Writing Using Social Media

“…Adas & Bakir [10] noted that blended learning can be a solution to the writing problem since it allows the teaching and learning writing less monotonous. Furthermore, current practice in teaching writing trough distance learning is mostly used blog as a learning tool (such as in (Nepomuceno [11], Artvianti [12], Shana & Abulibdeh [13], Kuimova & Zvekov [14], and Mabuan [15]). However, the use of social media in teaching writing remain unexplored since most previous studies on the use of social media to teach writing focus on discovering the role of social media to assist learning and limited studies about the used of social as a medium to teach and learn English skill, particularly writing.…”