Reflecting on the article "Assessing the Effects of Interactive Blogging on Student Attitudes towards Peer Interaction, Learning Motivation, and Academic Achievements" by Yang and Chang, I was struck and honestly, both surprised and not surprised by the findings. According to the authors, use of blog commenting was associated with both positive attitudes towards peer interaction and subject matter achievement. I was unsurprised given my experience over the course of this semester with blogging. I do feel like it gives me the chance to articulate thoughts on weekly topics in a way that I may feel inhibited from doing in a strictly lecture-based environment. What was surprising were the results in light of the fact that the sample was comprised of a 5:1 male to female ratio in STEM courses. I feel this really goes against the traditional belief that males, particularly those who are technologically or mathematically inclined prefer less interaction or participation in learning environments. Another study that examines this phenomenon is linked below. While the results are inconclusive and suggest that motivating factors that precipitate the level of online engagement are multifaceted, the data itself is revealing and provides quite a bit of insight into how much online engagement men prefer versus women.
As pointed out in Kim et al.'s reading for this week "Effects of Group Reflection Variations in Project-Based Learning Integrated in a Web 2.0 Learning Space," participants for their study consisted of young adults who were very familiar with Web 2.0 tools, but conceded that conducting the same study with certain age groups - namely older adults and very young children - may have yielded very different results. This caused me to wonder - as instructors, to what extent should programs that rely extensively on Web 2.0 tools and technology be tailored to specific age groups? While children may not be expected to engage with an extensive amount of interactive web-based tools, the skills of older adults are likely to be much more varied. With that in mind, how can we accommodate those with more experience without losing the interest of or overwhelming older adults that may not have much experience? It seems like it would be a delicate balancing act to account for the needs of...
That is an interesting point. I am not sure if this relates to gender, but I have found that in online discussions I get a much wider range of voices than I did when teaching face to face. It is one way that I love online teaching. I actually find ways to connect with students that I didn't before. Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting. I wonder what accounts for the difference - perhaps students that are quiet or shy in front of others are less inhibited in an online environment? I don't know, might make a good study though.
ReplyDelete