The 5 C's of literacy and literary skills development: Conversations, community, collaboration, creativity and connection

The use of blogging has been explored on how it can enhance and extend support for student participation and learning: as collaborative learning spaces, for increased participation and interaction amongst students, as a valuable asset to the learning schedules of large cohort university teaching, for promoting writing skills. The limitations and lack of perceived benefits have also been acknowledged in some studies. At our university, blogging has been applied in a course to enhance the engagement of students in the study of literature, to extend community with peers, and to build skills for future employability. It is precisely because of the less formal nature of the blog, one more in harmony with students' own social networking practice, that this Web 2.0 tool segues so effectively from students' native skills into the academic arena. The increasing use of social media in academic contexts has however, raised the question of whether the largely informal nature of Web 2.0 can act as a pathway to develop students' writing or if this could hinder the development of competence in academic discourse

Somewhere in between: blogging as an intermediate and accessible space

The learning process involves contextualising new knowledge with prior experiences and beliefs. In the scientific discipline, the focus of learning is geared towards learning how to do science, but there are significant barriers to learning, including jargonised terminology and excessive use of acronyms. Scientific discoveries are made by experimentation, but science as a discipline progresses through a series of ongoing conversations. Blogging provides a platform that widens access to these conversations by communicating science in a style of writing that sits somewhere in between the formal and informal. Regenring scientific writing as a blog can enhance student learning by breaking down the barriers to learning posed by ‘intellectually inaccessible’ information. Here, I describe an experimental approach to teaching cancer biology by regenring a classic review article in the field as a series of blog pieces, using everyday metaphors and analogies to describe the characteristics and behaviour of cancer cells. Other aspects of discipline, identity, ‘voice’ and communities of practice are also considered. Until such time as blogging is recognised as a valid academic output, however, it will remain firmly somewhere in between

Construction of a scale to determinate the usefulness of Blogs in higher education

La incorporación de las herramientas digitales a la educación superior es incuestionable. En el caso de los blogs, estos son empleados de manera más latente, dada su facilidad de creación y empleo, y la no necesidad de poseer conocimientos informáticos para su creación. No obstante, nos cuestionamos si realmente son útiles para el desarrollo del currículo de los actuales estudios universitarios . Para determinar esto se ha procedido a construir una escala de valoración de la utilidad de los blogs en la educación superior. Para poder emplear la misma se ha procedido a realizar un estudio de la validez de la misma a través de la administración del mismo a una muestra de maestros de Educación Primaria en formación de la Universidad de Córdoba (N=162). El principal resultado alcanzado referente a la validez del instrumento señala que el análisis factorial exploratorio realizado a través de matrices po licóricas a nivel de ítem refleja tres factores que miden las tres dimensiones abordadas. La principal conclusión a la que se ha podido llegar es que el conocimiento en la elaboración de los blogs se relaciona estadísticamente con el desarrollo del currícu lo, el desarrollo comunicativo presente en cualquier acto de aprendizaje, y el desarrollo informacional digital

The WordPress Workshop: Blogging as a Method for Theory Development

YesBlogs have proven to be a useful tool for academics as a tool for education and outreach in the Digital Age, with much written about their effectiveness in the classroom and as alternative means of publishing research. However, less consideration has been given to utilising the blog format for developing theory, particularly for graduate students and early career researchers. This paper will draw on both recent literature and personal experience to explore the potential of blogging as a means of introducing and developing unconventional and radical theory and research prior to more "formal" publication

Eficacia instruccional de diversas herramientas de la web 2.0 en la mejora de competencias ocupacionales

Se analiza la eficacia instruccional de diversas herramientas de la web 2.0 en la mejora de competencias ocupacionales. Para ello, se ha diseñado un programa instruccional, Fomento de Competencias Ocupacionales (FOCO), con el que se pretenden alcanzar diversas competencias ocupacionales todo ello a través de la competencia comunicativa escrita y a partir de varias herramientas de la web 2.0 entre las que se encuentran un “Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) ó Learning Management System (LMS) ó Course Management System (CMS), foro y YouTube”. A las que se añaden otras aplicaciones web. Por tanto, con esta investigación se espera que mejore la competencia digital y en comunicación lingüística escrita de los participantes, que se adquieran diversas competencias tanto básicas como específicas y que se analice el valor de la web como herramienta de enseñanza, de aprendizaje y de intercambio social. Durante la realización de este estudio se recibieron ayudas competitivas del proyecto del MICINN (EDU2010-19250) para el trienio 2010-2013; concedido al IP (J.N. García); así como dos Becas FPI del MICINN adscritas a los proyectos (M. L. Álvarez; J. García Martín).We analyze the instructional effectiveness of various Web 2.0 tools to improve occupational skills. For that purpose, we have designed an instructional program, Occupational Skills Development (FOCO). The student of this program will achieve various occupational skills through written communication competence and from several web 2.0 tools among which are a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) or Learning Management System (LMS) or Course Management System (CMS), forums and YouTube. To which are added other Web applications. Thus, this research is expected to improve digital competence and written competence of participants, acquired various basic and specific skills and to analyze the value of the web as a tool for teaching, learning and sharing social. We received competitive funds from the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research MICINN project (EDU2010-19250) for the triennium 2010-2013, awarded to IP (J.N. García) and two FPI Grants MICINN attached to projects (ML Álvarez, J. García Martín)

A Design Framework for Researching Collaborative Learning Environments

Despite the increasing use of communication and social media technologies in higher education teaching environments, and an extensive literature describing the potential of using technology in teaching, there is limited empirical literature demonstrating that technology enhances learning. The widespread adoption of some Web 2.0 and other mature technologies in education creates an opportunity to extend current research by identifying relationships between these technologies and pedagogically informed interactions within a Community of Inquiry. In this research, we propose a conceptual framework linking educational pedagogy, technological support of learning interactions, and emergent teaching, social and cognitive presences, which are linked with learning outcomes. This framework grounds discussion of the future design and evaluation of a prototype Collaborative Learning Environment based on the proposed interactions. Additional future research based on this framework is discussed

Investigating the Efficacy of Web 2 Tools on Language Pedagogy in Iran

Using web 2.0 tools in education in general and language learning in particular for creating an active learning environment is getting momentum these days. With all these, however, and despite the wide range of available web 2 tools, these tools have not been used properly to improve language learning and teaching in the Iranian context.  Accordingly, this study investigates the efficacy of web 2 tools for language learning in the western city of Ilam, Iran. To this end, the effect of some web 2 tools, such as blogs, wikis, e-mail service, social networks, podcasts and Podcast’s on four different language- speaking, listening, writing, and reading comprehension was investigated. The study was conducted in a language institute in Ilam on 71 language learners who were assigned to elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels and were divided into experimental and control groups. Learners in the experimental group were taught English with web 2 tools for two months, while the control group was taught through the classical teaching methods currently used in the country. The results showed the effectiveness of applying web 2 tools on intermediate and advanced levels, while the elementary level did not show any significant progress. Regarding the skills, the tools examined were found to have more positive effect on reading, writing, and listening skill

Dialog chatbot as an interactive online tool in enhancing ESP vocabulary learning

Purpose – Based on an experimental study on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students, at the Business Department at the University of Bisha, the purpose of the study is to examine the effect of chatbot use on learning ESP in online classrooms during COVID-19 and find out how Dialogflow chabot can be a useful and interactive online platform to help ESP learners in learning vocabulary well. Design/methodology/approach – The research paper is based on an experimental study of two groups, an experiential group and a controlled group. Two tests were carried out. Pre-tests and post-test of vocabulary knowledge were conducted for both groups to explore the usefulness of using the Dialogflow chatbot in learning ESP vocabulary. A designed chatbot content was prepared and included all the vocabulary details related to words' synonyms and a brief explanation of words’ meanings. An informal interview is another tool used in the study. The purpose of using the interview with the participants was to elicit more data from the participants about using the chatbot and about how and in what aspects chatbot using the conversational program was useful and productive. Findings – The findings of the study explored that the use of chatbots plays a major role in enhancing and learning ESP vocabulary. That was clear as the results showed that the students who used the chatbot Dialogflow in the experimental group outperformed their counterparts in the control group. Research limitations/implications – The study displays an important pedagogical implication as the use of chatbots could be applied in several settings to improve language learning in general or learning ESP courses in particular. Chatbot creates an interesting environment to foster build good interactions where negotiation of meaning takes place clearly seems to be of great benefit to help learners advance in their L2 lexical development. Originality/value – Examining and exploring whether the use of chatbots plays a major role in enhancing and learning ESP vocabulary in English as Foreign Language setting