Perceptions Of Blogs Research Articles

Exercise and Nutrition Science Students' Perceptions of Blogging as a Required Course Component.

The purposes of this study were to evaluate exercise and nutrition science students' perceptions of blogging on perceived learning, sense of community, and technical knowledge at the beginning and end of the semester, and to compare the perceptions of undergraduate (UG) and graduate (GRAD) students. UG (pre, n = 78; post, n = 50) and GRAD (pre, n = 20; post, n = 17) students were enrolled in semester long seminar courses that required blogging. Perceptions of blogging were assessed using an anonymous Likert-scale survey at the beginning and end of the semester. T-tests were used to determine differences in perception on the survey subscales pre to post and between UG and GRAD students. Agreement that blogging could enhance learning or promote a sense of community was lower at the end of the semester compared with the beginning, but remained relatively high. Agreement with items related to technical knowledge increased from presemester to postsemester. The change in perception in the whole sample was driven by the UG students, as GRAD students' perceptions of blogging, although initially less positive than UG, were mainly unchanged from the start of the semester to the end. Blogging as a required course component is viewed favorably by exercise and nutrition science students. Future research evaluating course characteristics and structure of blogging requirements that may enhance student' perceptions are warranted.

Behavior, perceptions and learning experience of undergraduates using social technologies during internship

Social technologies such as social networking sites, Wikis and blogs have gained popularity not only in social communication but also in other areas, such as in enhancing learning experience among students in tertiary education. This study investigated how blogs and Facebook scaffolded students’ learning during their internships in tertiary education. A mix-method approach was employed to examine students’ perceptions of blogs and Facebook in improving their internship learning experience. The results showed that blogs and Facebook encouraged students and facilitated their engagement in problem solving, information sharing and knowledge construction during their internships. In particular, Facebook showed more promising results, assisting students in reflecting on their experiences. Moreover, students acknowledged that Facebook was a better platform for online interaction and collaborative learning than blogs. This study provides empirical evidence for the use of social media tools in pedagogical scaffolding and collaborative learning during internships.

USING BLOGS IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO PHILOLOGY STUDENTS

This paper reports on an innovative approach to using blogs in teaching English as a foreign language. A blog is a sound example of information and communication technologies (ICT) implementation for language learning. In this paper, authors present the results of a small-scale action research aimed at analysing students’ perceptions of blogging. In total, 25 first-year university students majoring in English took part in a survey. The research results give the evidence of the benefits of using blogs: it encourages students’ autonomous learning, expands their collaboration through comments and discussions, improves language skills, increases the sense of responsibility and the desire for life-long learning, etc. At the same time, teachers consider blogs to be an effective facilitation for greater learner interaction and skills development. The research deals with the detailed blog starting guide for teachers of English. Authors instruct how to create and maintain blogs, as these interactive web pages prove to be effective for students online chatting, exchanging photos, videos, pictures, thereby expanding their language study beyond the classroom. For those who refuse being involved in the creation of a personal web page, some useful blog links are given. For better understanding of blogging efficiency, the researchers report on the positive implementation of blogs in teaching English, focusing on developing reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.

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

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.

Blogs as Eportfolio Platforms in Teacher Education: Affordances and Limitations Derived from Student Teachers' Perceptions and Performance on Their Eportfolios.

At the University of the Balearic Islands, in Ibiza local centre, an eportfolio project in Teacher Education has been implemented since the 2009-2010 school year. This article is based on the research of the two first school years (2009-2010 and 2010-11) of experimental implementation of blogs as electronic portfolios. The results reported are those related to student teachers’ perceptions of blogs as eportfolios and the assessment of their performance. The project is aimed at fostering the construction of an electronic portfolio in order to build student teachers’ networked selves as future Early Childhood Education teachers. Both the project and research are based on the principle that social media empower eportfolios. Data obtained allows us to observe some affordances of blogs as eportfolio platforms. However, data collected during the two-year period of research raises some unexpected issues of blogs as eportfolios.

Voices from the Classroom: Elementary Students’ Perceptions of Blogging

Blogging appears to be a promising instructional strategy which may provide solutions to some of the challenges in traditional writing instruction; however, few studies explore elementary students' views on blogging. This qualitative case study gives elementary students voice as it examines their perceptions of blogging and their views of themselves as writers, readers, and learners. The researchers drew from multiple data sources, including student and teacher interviews, student and teacher blog writing, and classroom observations, to ascertain young writers' perspectives. The findings indicate these student bloggers' reader awareness and appreciation of the reader-writer relationship. Student bloggers also benefited from emotional and pedagogical assistance, both of which addressed their needs as writers, readers, and learners. While students enjoyed positive comments from readers, they struggled with critical feedback. Ways to offer encouragement and to prepare young writers for critical comments as they learn to write are provided.

Investigating Turkish Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions of Blogs: Implications for the FATIH Project

This study aimed to investigate pre-service teachers’ perceptions on the use of blogs regarding ICT integration in the FATIH project in Turkey. Participants were 174 pre-service teachers continuing their education. Data collection tool was a questionnaire which measured pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the blogs. Questionnaire embodied some sub-categories of blog use such as learning, motivation, active participation, writing skills, group work, and critical thinking. Findings revealed that using blogs in classes affected learning and teaching process. The obtained results also showed that the blogs contributed to the recuperation of writing and critical thinking skills. These results indicated that students found social contributions of the blogs such as sharing information and interacting with peers. Based on the findings of study, appropriate conclusions and implications were addressed within the context of the FATIH project.

Knowledge management using social media: A comparative study between blogs and Facebook

AbstractBlogging and Facebook have gained increasing recognition as tools to support online information sharing and management. This study examined if, and in which aspects, blogs and Facebook scaffold and/or consolidate student users' knowledge capture, sharing and application during their internship. A mixed‐methods design was employed to investigate users' practices and perceptions of blogs and Facebook in online information management. The study found that users generally hold positive perception on using blogs and Facebook for online knowledge management. In particular, Facebook appears to be a more facilitating platform for users to reflect upon prior knowledge, capture new experiences and provide feedback that is constructive to cultivating knowledge sharing environment. It was found that Facebook support the expression of social support among users, thereby reinforcing their motivation in participating in knowledge management processes.

What Makes a Blog a Blog? Exploring User Conceptualizations of an Old “New” Online Medium

What is a blog? While this may seem like a basic question, it is the subject of dispute among researchers, and hardly settled among users of the medium. We return to this fundamental inquiry by asking 89 blog-reading college students how they conceptualize the term and what purpose blogs serve for them. Our findings suggest that perceptions of blogs are varied and ambiguous, and definitions largely fail to distinguish blogs from other online media. We discuss what this means for the study of blogs and other “new” media and argue that more constructionist approaches are necessary to develop ecologically valid theories of media perceptions and use.

Use of social web technologies by international and domestic undergraduate students: implications for internationalising learning and teaching in Australian universities

Much research into the use of online information and communication technologies for the internationalisation of learning and teaching has focused on established web technologies. This paper considers the possible internationalisation implications of existing uses of social software, also known as Web 2.0 technologies, which are now widely available inside and outside of formal education settings. The paper reports on two studies: the first, conducted at a large Australian university, investigated differences between international and domestic undergraduate students’ (n = 1973) use of web‐based technologies and tools; the second investigation reports on interviews with eight Australian and eight Singaporean university students about their use and perceptions of blogs and blogging. The findings from two studies provide new evidence of both cultural similarities and cultural differences in aspects of young university students’ use of social software for communication and content creation. Discussion and conclusions draw out factors to be considered in planning to implement new uses of social software among culturally and linguistically diverse students of the Net Generation, in Australia and more generally.

Characteristics of cancer blog users

Blogs are a relatively new medium in computer-mediated health communication and are regarded as highly opinionated journals maintained by millions of users who read and write personal remarks on issues ranging from news stories to health care [1–3]. Of the 120 million US adults with Internet access, 7%, or 8 million people, have created blogs [4], and the increasing use of blogs has been reported in several studies [1,4,5]. Rainie found that the typical blogger is a young, male, Internet veteran; has a broadband connection; and is financially secure [5]. The gender of the blogger has also been a topic for research. Herring et al. found that even though women participate in blogging activities (focusing on emotional support), men are more likely to create filter blogs and k-logs (knowledge blogs) that are considered focused on information [1]. Blogs have been described as a new medium, one that shifts mainstream control of information into the hands of the audience. The potential use of blogs for cancer patients, basic scientists, clinical researchers, and practicing oncologists to discuss findings and suggestions has been envisioned in several cancer journals [6]. In addition, the use of online communication tools to share emotional support in all aspects of cancer-related issues has been frequently described [2,6]. While blogs are becoming more frequently researched, empirical studies regarding blogs and their users, especially cancer patients and their companions (defined for this study as patient family and friends), are noticeably lacking. Most research has been in the area of news media [7]. Some research has been reported in lexical (textual) analyses from studies designed to provide technological frameworks to classify blog messages for improved accessibility [8,9]. However, questions regarding motivation to post or comment on blogs and the perceived outcomes of using blogs still remain challenging research tasks [10,11]. Understanding how blogs are used can allow information providers to better understand the impact blogs can have on cancer patients, their friends, and families. This study used cluster analysis techniques to classify cancer blog users' demographics, as well as their use and perceptions of blogs.

An Analysis of Blogs as a Teaching Tool as Perceived by Hospitality Management Students

An Analysis of Blogs as a Teaching Tool as Perceived by Hospitality Management Students