Weblogs: Supporting the creation of learning networks in the technology classroom

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of weblogs as a tool for collaborative learning in an online environment, with a particular focus on technology students. Some of the VLEs currently in use in third-level institutions restrict the way in which students interact with one another and with their tutors. The use of weblogs as a tool for collaborative learning can help to overcome several of the shortcomings of traditional VLEs by providing a dynamic, user-friendly way for students to peer review one another’s work and to communicate with their tutors and with one another. An initial pilot study was conducted over a 10-week period with a group of technology students as part of their Networks course. The first six sessions focused on the technical aspects of blogs (e.g. permalinks, backlinks, RSS feeds, RSS aggregators). In the remaining four sessions, students used their blogs to review one another’s class presentations and to share additional information on their own research with the rest of the class. Laurillard’s conversational framework and Salmon’s online learning model were used as a theoretical basis for describing how weblogs could be incorporated into the existing learning environment. Weblogs can be integrated into several stages of these models, enhancing the collaborative process and supporting the creation of learning networks. Preliminary findings show that the use of weblogs in a blended learning environment, in conjunction with classroom teaching and a VLE can enhance the learning experience for both students and tutor. The level of interaction between blogs was high, with students frequently commenting on and linking to one another’s blogs, suggesting that weblogs promote collaborative learning in an online environment. Initial feedback from students is also positive: they readily engaged with the new technology and were enthusiastic about its use

Blogs – Collaborative Learning for the Next Generation

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of weblogs as a tool for collaborative learning in an online environment, with a particular focus on technology students. Some of the VLEs currently in use in third-level institutions restrict the way in which students interact with one another and with their tutors. The use of weblogs as a tool for collaborative learning can help to overcome several of the shortcomings of traditional VLEs by providing a dynamic, user-friendly way for students to peer-review one another’s work and to communicate with their tutors and with one another. An initial pilot study was conducted over a 10-week period. Salmon’s online learning model was used as a theoretical basis for describing how weblogs could be incorporated into the existing learning environment. The first six sessions focused on the technical aspects of blogs (e.g. permalinks, backlinks, RSS feeds and RSS aggregators). The focus on weblog technology and related technologies (e.g. RSS, XML) was felt to be appropriate for the group as part of their Networks course. In the remaining four sessions, students used their blogs to review one another’s class presentations and to share additional information on their own research with the rest of the class. Preliminary findings show that the use of weblogs in a blended learning environment, in conjunction with classroom teaching and a VLE can enhance the learning experience for both students and tutor. The level of interaction between blogs was high, with students frequently commenting on and linking to one another’s blogs, suggesting that weblogs promote collaborative learning in an online environment

Requirements for a Control Instrument of Intraorganizational Online Collaboration - A Maturity Model Analysis

Intraorganizational online collaboration (IOC) can be designed in various ways but there is still a backlog in how to control IOC and deriving corresponding actions. This paper aims to find and analyze approaches for an evaluation model of intraorganizational online collaboration. By using interview data, of in-depth interview with field experts the importance of an organizational control instrument for IOC is elaborated and a requirement catalogue for such instruments is deduced. This catalogue is applied in an initial analysis of maturity models (MM) as one identified approach of a control instrument for IOC. The findings show that the analyzed MMs fulfil the catalogue of requirements in different degrees and that suitable approaches exist. However, all MMs do have disadvantages and further developments of the models are required