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intro :
feeling the walls
non-participation
blogging & lurking
learning styles
summary
| My intentions: | I had intended to submit my blog as my finished work however it ran to 8500 words and I am reluctant to cull it as it represents my path of learning. It is instead presented both as evidence of research and an example of how a blog can be used to support learning. The wiki was meant to confirm the public discussion in online learning, but failed to do so due to A-M's absence. It is however still offered as a valid piece of research (though in a way which differs from its intended!). A-M's blog was unused and hence no mention is made of it in this project. |
| Original topic: | "We intend to compare the more 'private' personal communication that a blog implies, with the more public open forum that something like a discussion board encourages (in a learning contex!). However, we both dislike the WebCT discussion board, so we're going to try using a wiki* instead. We intend to simultaneously conduct joint discussions on the relative merits of each form of communication in the wiki, and each keep a private weblog too over the course of around 3 weeks-ish. The wiki and the weblogs will make up the greater part of our assignment, but at the end of our few weeks we will get together and write a summary piece on a webpage which aims to pull all the strands together." |
| How it changed: | In the absence of contributions from A-M the project morphed into a comparison between what was good about blogs and what was good about wikis, in a learning context. Although an interesting topic I initially found it a formidable one as I struggled to establish what 'good' meant. And I guess that after all the reading I've done I have to conclude that there is no Universal Good, since what is ideal for an individual learner may conflict with what is ideal for an online learning community. |
| Why it changed: | As it became increasingly evident that A-M was not going to be contributing to the assignment in an equal capacity my attention was drawn to articles on the subject of non-participation in online communication. I went off on a tangent and explored lurking, and solo-discussions (where there is only one contributor) and then learning styles - the latter in an attempt to fit all the pieces together. Prior to this I had spent my time comparing blogs and wikis, and reading articles on how they are used for learning. So it was the realisation that our project was not working as planned (since one person alone cannot have an online discussion) which focused me on non-participation in its various guises. This was an unexpected change in the project's direction but nevertheless an interesting and rewarding one. |
| *NB: | I have used the terms 'wiki' and 'discussion board' interchangeably throughout my assignment. That is not because I confuse the 2 technologies but because there was a period of 3 weeks when it wasn't clear whether A-M was onboard or not, so I had to stick with wikis just in case she returned (though my reading focused on discussion boards). |
| next: feeling the walls |
| blog references: | on working together |
| A-M's contribution | |
| so, what's your topic? | |
| huh? why this blog? |