Tracing the Ripples: evaluating the wider impact of small institutional enhan...
Rasheed l EDUC 8841 Final Presentation-Blogging in Literature and Composition
1. BLOGGING IN
COMPOSITION AND
LITERATURE COURSES:
A NEW DISCOURSE
PRESENTED BY LINETTE
RASHEED
Technological innovations that assist students with critical
thinking, developing, and expressing ideas in writing and literature
classes are needed.
2. The Need for Blogging
Research that addresses the solutions to this problem include:
Teaching strategies and instruction that help students engage in and successfully
complete English courses (developmental and on the level) are needed.
Blogs are more frequently updated (in terms of adding new content or comments),
include more exchange among people, and have a higher percentage of text (as
opposed to multimedia) than standard Webpages.
The ease of writing and publishing on blogs makes them an appealing medium to
students and thus has been found to help increase the quantity of student writing as
well as its lexical sophistication (Fellner & Apple, 2006).
Having students write on blogs can help learners transition from a more colloquial to
an academic writing style, develop a sense of voice, learn to participate in a
community of writers, and gain an important new literacy in its own right by becoming
contributors to and not just consumers of online content (Bloch, 2007; Rezaee &
Oladi, 2008).
Blogs have a variety of formats and might include the user expressing their opinion
about a topic or documenting activities. Blogs are interactive in the sense that other
users could provide comments on the information posted by the blog author.
Educational applications of blogs include researching, tracking, interpreting, and
evaluating blogs for political commentary (multiple perspectives), cultural events,
business, or other news and for examining changes over time
3. About Blogging
Links to YouTube that provide information on
this innovation.
http://youtu.be/lu6ww1UWpik
http://youtu.be/rJ1JVGdUxkc
http://youtu.be/_rE3rTnWccE
http://youtu.be/MTCe9XMFPDk
http://youtu.be/ly5QGZVaQqk
http://youtu.be/497wsZ0vSsQ
4. Origins of Research
The term ‗Web 2.0‘ was officially coined in
2004 by Dale Dougherty, a vice-president of
O‘Reilly Media Inc. (the company famous for
its technology-related conferences and high
quality books) during a team discussion on a
potential future conference about the Web
(O‘Reilly, 2005a).
5. Innovation: Development Snafus
While technological innovations that assist students with critical
thinking, developing ideas, and expressing ideas in writing and
literature classes are needed, some psychological barriers were
encountered in the development process of blogging.
Among them is perception. Many educators continue to be critical of
how tools such as blogging help students with mastery of the
English language and mastery of relevant genres, enhance
teaching and learning, and emphasize writing for meaningful
academic purposes, and development of students‘ academic
language proficiency.
7. S-Curve
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Rate of adoption of Blogging in Education among four-year accredited institutions in the United States.
The study conducted by The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research is a proportional sample of 28%
public and 72% private institutions in all 50 states.
Rate of adoption 2008-2009 41%
Rate of adoption 2009-2010 51%
Rate of adoption 2010-2011 66%
Rate of adoption 2011-2012 68%
Rate of adoption beginning to level off in 2011-2012
8. Commercialization:
Web 2.0 tools which include blogging have been packaged and
manufactured using various mass media channels. The infusion
and integration is distributed by educational publishing
houses, marketing reps, and the most influential channel of
communications---word of mouth throughout academic disciplines
and departments.
First rolled out for the business sector, the
tools usefulness spread into education.
9. Key Change Agents
Each of these change agents will effect positive social change
as they:
Assess client‘s needs
Develop rapport with clients following establishing a need for
change exists
Express empathy while diagnosing clients‘ problems
Motivate interest among clients to achieve goals
Ensure that recommendations based on client need are in
place in order to influence behavior change
Reinforce messages to clients who have confirmed adoption
in the innovation-decision process and thereby stabilize
behavior
Support and develop the clients self-reliance for change
10. Key Change Agents cont.
Innovators and early adopters of blogging will
likely include members of the social system who
are tuned in professionally and personally to
social networking.
11. Audience Segmentation: Moving
Key Change Agents toward
adoption
Strategies in garnering support from
Innovators and Early Adopters include:
Compile a ―clique of innovators‖ from different
geographical regions to network and open the
communication channels
Engage innovators in the diffusion process
Increase awareness of the soundness and
credibility of the innovation.
12. Resistance to Change
We
must change the minds of
these laggards who will reject
the innovation primarily because
they would rather hold on to the status quo and
keep things as they are.
They are tied to the past and the social circle they
operate within in the social system is small and
contains like-minded individuals, all of whom are
suspicious of change.
13. Audience Segmentation:
Combating Resistance
Strategies to
help move
laggards toward
adoption
include:
Remove most
uncertainty
about the
innovation‘s
performance
Being proactive
and address
limitations of
innovations
previously
adopted
Increase
confidence that
the innovation
will be
successful
Increase social
networking
Create
awareness and
knowledge of the
innovation
14. Attributes of Innovations
These combination of perceived attributes
would be best for helping blogging meet
critical mass.
Relative advantage
Compatibility
Trialability
Observability
15. Centralized or Decentralized
A centralized approach to adoption of blogging to the Board of Directors is recommended for the
following reasons Rogers (2003) outlined, although he noted that diffusion systems usually contain
some elements of both centralization and de-centralization, creating a hybrid system:
Members of the social system will share the power of diffusion which also allows for diffusion that
may be unplanned and spontaneous
Diffusion will be the result of user experimentation, typically from non-experts
Innovations will diffuse among peers through horizontal networks
Decisions on which innovations will be diffused will be determined by informal evaluations at the
local level
The diffusion process will be driven by the needs and problems of clients. Rogers defined this as a
problem-centered approach (p. 296).
Local adaption will be high as innovations diffuse among adopters
16. Critical Mass
Three strategies for
achieving critical mass
will be used.
First, decision makers
and highly influential
individuals will be
targeted for initial
adopters.
Secondly, incentives
will be provided to
early adopters.
Finally, the innovation
will be introduced to a
sampling or selected
group of members of
the social system who
generally embraced
new innovations.
18. Defining the Need
for Blogging
The number of students who unsuccessfully
complete each section of Freshmen
Composition, failing to earn a grade of ―C‖ or
better is on the rise
The number of students who receive an ―I‖ or
―W‖, incomplete or withdraw, although few
gains have been noted, this number is far too
many
19. Matching Blogging
to the Need
Like pieces of a puzzle, blogging in Literature and
Composition classes fits. It provides students with
a sense of confidence in reading, thinking, and
writing.
When students have more confidence in their
abilities, they have a meaningful learning
experience.
This translates into more students remaining in
the class, thereby reducing the number of
incompletes, withdrawals, and failures
20. Persuading all Adopters
NCES on student performance in Louisiana
shows that students fell behind the national
average in Writing, Science, Math and
Reading by a margin of 7 to 10 points in
each subject, substantiating both NAEP and
the state's Report Card. In Writing the
national average was 154, in Science
147, in Reading 261, and in Math 282, while
the state‘s averages were
147, 138, 253, and 272 respectively.
21. Persuading Adopters
With this in mind, and a critical eye towards
student performance, let‘s watch the video as
students express how blogging has honed
their writing skills while increasing their skills in
reading, analyzing, and critical thinking.
22. Student Champions--Qualitative
Research
Their individual stories collectively provide
anecdotal evidence that blogging can greatly
increase how students engage with text and
ultimately how they engage in the writing
process.
23. Conclusion
As previously mentioned, we must encourage
students to actively participate and be an
essential component of
planning, implementing, and navigating the wheel
through their academic journey
In essence students must take control for what
they learn and how well they learn it in order to
meet educational learning objectives.
Blogging is one way to do that. Students can then
meet their goals, and with this intended
outcome, be a catalyst for change
(Rasheed, 2012).
24. Wake up Everybody--Time to teach
a new way
Fade to black with audio—Wake up Everybody
No more backwards thinking time for thinking
ahead
Let‘s teach them the very best we can
25. References
Bloch, J. (2007). Abdullah's blogging: A generation 1.5 student enters the
blogosphere. Language Learning & Technology, 11(2), 128-141. Retrieved from
http://llt.msu.edu/vol11num2/bloch/default.html
Duffy, Peter and Bruns, Axel (2006) The Use of Blogs, Wikis and RSS in
Education: A Conversation of Possibilities. In Proceedings Online Learning and
Teaching Conference 2006, pp. 31-38, Brisbane. Accessed from
http://eprints.qut.edu.au
Fellner, T., & Apple, M. (2006). Developing writing fluency and lexical complexity
with blogs. The JALT CALL Journal, 2(1), 15-26.
Rezaee, A. A., & Oladi, S. (2008). The effect of blogging on language learners'
improvement in social interactions and writing proficiency. Iranian Journal of
Language Studies, 2(1), 73-88.
Richardson, W. (2006) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools
for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin PressShale, D. 1988.
Toward a reconceptualization of distance education. The American Journal of
Distance Education 2 (3): 25-35.
Rogers, E.M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. (5th ed.). New York, NY. Free
Press.
26. References cont.
Teachers first home, 2007. Blogs basic for the classroom. The source for learning Inc.
Retrieved January 31, 2014. From http://legacy.teachersfirst.com/content/blog/blogbasics.cfm
Thomas, M. J. W. (2002). Learning within incoherent structures: The space of online discussion
forums. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 18, 351–366.
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education
Statistics. (2010). National assessment of educational progress: Nation’s report card [Data file].
Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education
Statistics. (2010). Annual reports program [Data file]. Retrieved
from http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/Annual Reports/
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education
Statistics. (2010). K-12 practitioners circle [Data file]. Retrieved
from http://nces.ed.gov/practitioners/
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education
Statistics. (2010). State education data profiles [Data file]. Retrieved
from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/stateprofiles/
Warschauer, M. (2010). Invited commentary: new tools for teaching writing. Language Learning &
Technology, 14(1), 3-8.
Editor's Notes
Good Morning Board of Directors. I’d like to present to you Blogging in Composition and Literature Courses by LinetteRasheed
The need for blogging exists because the teaching strategies and instruction help students engage in and successfully complete English courses, the developmental course and those on the level) are needed. Blogging enhances teaching and learning because the ease of writing and publishing on blogs makes them an appealing medium to students and thus has been found to help increase the quantity of student writing as well as its lexical sophistication .In addition, having students write on blogs can help learners transition from a more colloquial to an academic writing style, develop a sense of voice, learn to participate in a community of writers, and gain an important new literacy in its own right by becoming contributors to and not just consumers of online content Blogs have a variety of formats and might include the user expressing their opinion about a topic or documenting activities. Blogs are interactive in the sense that other users could provide comments on the information posted by the blog author. Educational applications of blogs include researching, tracking, interpreting, and evaluating blogs for political commentary (multiple perspectives), cultural events, business, or other news and for examining changes over time
What is blogging you ask. Well here are several links to help you.
The term ‘Web 2.0’ was officially coined in 2004 by Dale Dougherty, a vice-president of O’Reilly Media Inc. (the company famous for its technology-related conferences and high quality books).
Many development problems exist with this innovation, well challenges. While technological innovations that assist students with critical thinking, developing ideas, and expressing ideas in writing and literature classes had some psychological barriers to overcome in the development process. Among them is perception. Many educators continue to be critical of how tools such as blogging help students with mastery of the English language and mastery of relevant genres, enhance teaching and learning, and emphasize writing for meaningful academic purposes, and development of students’ academic language proficiency.
When we look at technology today we look at the timeline from 1990-2004. This timeline illustrates other sources of technology but you will note that Web 2.0 was coined in 2004 and rolled out at that time. But, in 2000 blogging came abiut. Blogging is not new it has been around for about 14 years
This also indicates that the rate of adoption for blogging is still behind. When we look at the rate from 2008-2011/12 which are the latest statistics .This is the study that was conducted by The University of Massachusetts and we see from 2008 to 2012 there has bee slow adoption.Rate of adoption 2008-2009 41%Rate of adoption 2009-2010 51%, Rate of adoption 2010-2011 66%. Rate of adoption 2011-2012 68%. Rate of adoption beginning to level off in 2011-2012
Commercialization of Web 2.0 technology includes blogging as well as others like wikis and have been packaged and manufactured using various mass media channels. The infusion and integration is distributed by educational publishing houses, marketing reps, and the most influential channel of communications---word of mouth throughout academic disciplines and departments. Now web 2.0 technologies was first rolled out to the business sector and then the tools spread into education.
Recommended for the role of key change agent in the organization is the department chairperson who has also served as interim division head. In both of these roles she is highly respected and therefore would be ideal in“facilitat[ing] the flow of innovations from a change agency to an audience of clients,” which Rogers(2003) argued is necessary(p. 368). The second recommendation for key change agent is the Director of Student Success. The current department chair/ former interim division head and Director of Student Success possess a high degree of expertise
Key change agents are innovators and early adopters of blogging. They will likely include members of the social system who are tuned in professionally and personally to social networking. Often they have personal wikis and blogs.
In order to garner support from Innovators and Early Adopters we will compile a “clique of innovators” from different geographical areas and regions to network and open the communication channels. Also we will engage innovators in the diffusion process and increase awareness of the soundness and credibility of the innovation.
Many in the institution will be resistant to change. We must change their minds. We must change their minds under construction, these laggards who will reject the innovation primarily because they would rather hold on to the status quo and keep things as they are. They are tied to the past and the social circle they operate within in the social system is small . Many of them are like-minded individuals who are suspicious of change.
We expect there will be resistance to the innovation, adoption that is. And in order to move laggards toward adoption, we will be proactive and address limitations of innovations previously adopted, increase social networking, create awareness and knowledge of the innovation, increase confidence that the innovation will be successful, and remove most uncertainty about the innovation’s performance
Innovations must be perceived as being better than previously introduced and tried innovations; otherwise, the innovation may be viewed as just another wave if technology. Rogers (2003) that relative advantage can be seen profitable and possibly demonstrate an edge---a kind of prestige. When an innovation is perceived as congruent with the philosophical beliefs of the social system Rogers (2003) contended this too aides in the rate of adoption. Rogers (2003) added that “the sociocultural values and beliefs, previously introduced ideas, and/or client need for the innovation” all contribute to the degree to which an innovation is perceived as compatible (p. 240). According to Rogers (2003) when an innovation can be experimented with, the members of that social system can try it out and not only work through their skepticism about the innovation, but also find out how it works for their environment. Rogers (2003) argued that the when results are visible to others and they can be easily observed as well as communicated to the community of users, it positively impacts the rate of adoption.
A centralized approach to adoption of blogging to the Board of Directors is recommended for the following reasons Rogers (2003) outlined, although he noted that diffusion systems usually contain some elements of both centralization and de-centralization, creating a hybrid system:Members of the social system will share the power of diffusion which also allows for diffusion that may be unplanned and spontaneous; Diffusion will be the result of user experimentation, typically from non-experts; Innovations will diffuse among peers through horizontal networks; Decisions on which innovations will be diffused will be determined by informal evaluations at the local level ; The diffusion process will be driven by the needs and problems of clients. Rogers defined this as a problem-centered approach (p. 296).
Because blogging has not met critical mass; it is not self-sustaining, three strategies for achieving critical mass will be used. First, decision makers and highly influential individuals will be targeted for initial adopters. Secondly, incentives will be provided to early adopters. Finally, the innovation will be introduced to a sampling or selected group of members of the social system who generally embraced new innovations.
Rogers (2003) argued that champions can be influential with others. These students have emerged as leaders in their classes, so their interpersonal and negotiating skills are honed and they have a natural knack for understanding and influencing their peers.
The number of students who do not successfully complete , that is with a “C” or better, beginning English courses is on the rise. In the same, vein, the number of students who receive an “I” or “W”, incomplete or withdraw, although few gains have been noted, this number is far too many
We must match blogging to the need, and like pieces of a puzzle, blogging in Literature and Composition classes fits. It provides students with a sense of confidence in reading, thinking, and writing. When students have more confidence in their abilities, they have a meaningful learning experience.This translates into more students remaining in the class, thereby reducing the number of incompletes, withdrawals, and failures
Data on student performance in Louisiana shows that students fell behind the national average in Writing, Science, Math and Reading by a margin of 7 to 10 points in each subject, substantiating both NAEP and the state's Report Card. In Writing the national average was 154, in Science 147, in Reading 261, and in Math 282, while the state’s averages were 147, 138, 253, and 272 respectively.
Who better to show the impact of blogging—the students. The YouTube video begins.
This is all the evidence that is needed. Their individual stories collectively provide anecdotal evidence that blogging can greatly increase how students engage with text and ultimately how they engage in the writing process.
In conclusion I’d like to leave you with this thought, we must encourage students to actively participate and be an essential component of planning, implementing, and navigating the wheel through their academic journey. They must take control for what they learn and how well they learn it. They must meet learning objectives. Blogging is one way to do that.
