Reflective Synopsis on eLearning: Blogs
Like, a wiki, a blog or “web log” can be used to support and enhance multimodal learning. This is because it also allows different modes of information to be uploaded online alongside text. Students can use a blog as an online journal within which they can reflect upon and transform their own learning.
This aligns, largely, with the self intelligence (Gardner, 1983; 1993) but, again, also with the other seven multiple intelligences due to the multimodality of the ICT. This provides opportunity for students to make connections between their background knowledge and experience, and the new understandings or skills they are studying and acquiring (Education Queensland, 2002). Connection to their background knowledge and perspective also makes blog journaling, another highly constructivist learning activity (Vygotsky, 1962 ).
Finally, blogs are an ideal tool for students to develop self-regulated thinking. This is an important habit of mind, as outlined under the Dimensions of Learning framework (Mazarno & Pickering, 1997). Self-regulated thinking is practised as students can monitor their own thinking with the blog, respond appropriately to feedback given in the form of blog comments and evaluate the effectiveness of their actions and thoughts in blog postings.
This aligns, largely, with the self intelligence (Gardner, 1983; 1993) but, again, also with the other seven multiple intelligences due to the multimodality of the ICT. This provides opportunity for students to make connections between their background knowledge and experience, and the new understandings or skills they are studying and acquiring (Education Queensland, 2002). Connection to their background knowledge and perspective also makes blog journaling, another highly constructivist learning activity (Vygotsky, 1962 ).
Finally, blogs are an ideal tool for students to develop self-regulated thinking. This is an important habit of mind, as outlined under the Dimensions of Learning framework (Mazarno & Pickering, 1997). Self-regulated thinking is practised as students can monitor their own thinking with the blog, respond appropriately to feedback given in the form of blog comments and evaluate the effectiveness of their actions and thoughts in blog postings.
