The Use of Blogs in LIS Online Courses: A Case Study

Case Description Web 2.0 Tools Used For this case study Edmo ( http://www.edmodo.com) was one of the platforms that was used, it is similar to Facebook, and functions as a micro-blogging site. Another Web 2.0 tool used was Wordpress which was used to blog about the weeks activities and assignments. A third Web 2.0 tool used was an online software chat program called Meebo that allowed the group to meet for one hour a week at the same time (this was optional). Context: When, Where, Who, Why This study was conducted in the winter of 2011 in a Social Software and Libraries (SSL) course which was part of a Library and Information Science Masters program at The University of Western Ontario in Canada. Thirty-nine students participated in the course and were assigned to eight small groups of 4-5 members. The students were being evaluated based on three criteria; class participation, group assignments, and their own individual assignments to determine their learning outcomes and progress (The Use of Blogs in LIS Online Courses: A Case Study, 2011). Subject and Learning Objectives The students in this course were exploring Web-based software tools that facilitate communication, collaboration, and community-building (University of Western Ontario, 2010). Students used social software applications such as blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, and online social networks and then assess the roles and affordability of the software used, in the context of library service provision (The Use of Blogs in LIS Online Courses: A Case Study, 2011).

How Web 2.0 Tools were used: During this case study students were required to post a minimum of ten personal Blog entries throughout the semester using Wordpress. In addition, students were encouraged, but not required to post micro-blogs in Edmodo. Edmodo was also used for communication between students and the instructor through alerts, assignments, notes, links and files. The instructor provided frequent Edmodo posts as well as Wordpress blog entries containing the lessons for each week. Weekly, the instructor held an online optional chat session using Meebo. Key Findings Research questions sought after: How do blogging and micro-blogging impact LIS students learning experience in an online course?

Researchers discovered that there was a definitive growth that occurred in the students understanding of the social media during the course of this study.

Researchers determined that a students past experiences influenced the students experience within the course. Researches interpreted data which showed that Quasi-public informal sharing led to a sense of community amongst the students (The Use of Blogs in LIS Online Courses: A Case Study, 2011).

Other Critical Information Researchers originally administered a survey at the end of the course in order to understand the students learning and collaboration experiences, however due to the low responses on the survey they chose to analyze the data from the perception of a blog analysis instead of through the survey responses. Case Evaluation:

Strengths: The strengths of the instructional methods were: The technologies chosen were up to date Web 2.0 services that were free to the students and made readily available for them to use. Weaknesses: One weakness of the instructional methods was that there were not enough participants in the original study to allow for any errors that would occur with those that did not want their works published or did not complete a survey. Another weakness of the instructional method was that the students were not required to complete the microblogging; instead it was left as an optional completion. This left the option open for lack of participation in the course content which in turn could cause the results to be weak or even invalid. The optional weekly chat session was also a weakness because students could choose not to participate causing the results to be skewed.

Suggestions We would suggest that for a future case study that the students are required to participate in the micro-blogging. This would allow the researchers to have more data when determining their results. In addition, simply having the participation optional for using Meebo could have possibly produced better information for the researchers if it was required or if the instructor had required the students to attend a set number of meetings.

References

The Use of Blogs in LIS Online Courses: A Case Study. (2011). Retrieved October 4, 2011, from http://issome2011.library2pointoh.fi/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/issome2011_xiao_neal.pdf University of Western Ontario. (2010). Retrieved October 4, 2011, from Faculty of Information and Media Studies-Course Description: http://www.fims.uwo.ca/acad_programs/grad/lis/mlis/Courses/schedule/distance_descriptions_w inter.htm? UCT=False&TY=2012&TN=1&PI=10&CL=M&RQF=0&STF=ES9&RSF=ES9&DF=ES9&CI =-2&CourseTitleId=3548