Blog vs. Discussion Board

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Given the various circumstances and experiences of many adult learners, the need to identify avenues for those learners to enable self-directed learning is significant. Effective learning is often contextual and the ability to self-direct can depend on the subject matter and characteristics of the learner (Grow, 1991). In my recent adult education experience within this master’s program, discussion boards have been the primary means of collaboration and knowledge sharing. I have found discussion boards generally helpful as a guide to manage my individual learning process. A discussion board can also instill a feeling of safety and comfortability for adult learners, given the system is private (Wang & Hsua, 2008). Although there a similarities, the practice of blogging provides a different learner experience, while still empowering adults to actively participate in their own education.

 

Although the technology is not new, this is my first experience creating a blog. The vastness and versatility of blog-based learning are some of the merits around utilizing the method for self-directed learners. Celdrán et al. (2021) explained how their study of adult bloggers revealed a number of personal advantages, including a sense of fulfillment upon completion, the social advantages based on a connection with others, the cerebral benefits of creating a clear and organized blog, and the formation of a greater sense of individuality and purpose through blogging. These types of rewards help to enhance engagement and give learners opportunities to take greater command of their learning process. Not only can blogging give adult learners the chance to enhance their technical acumen, but also bolster their established capabilities (Witte, 2007). An adult learner has to consider different factors when blogging versus posting on a discussion board. In my case, the novelty of creating this blog for the assignment, compared to the familiarity of discussion boards posts, gave me a greater sense of contentment and involvement upon completion.

 

References


Celdran, M., Serrat, R., Villar, F., & Montserrat, R. (2021). Exploring the benefits of proactive participation among adults and older people by writing blogs. Journal of Gerontological Social Work. Online first. https://doi-org.er.lib.k-state.edu/10.1080/01634372.2021.1965688


Grow, G. (1991). Teaching learner to be self-directed. Adult Education Quarterly, 41(3), 125-149.


Wang, S., & Hsua, H. (2008). Reflections on using blogs to expand in-class discussion. TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, 52(3), 81-85.


Witte, S. (2007). That's online writing, not boring school writing: Writing with blogs and the Talkback Project. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 51(2), 92-96.



Comments

  1. JefferySeptember 6, 2024 at 8:06 PM

    Thanks for the post, Tim! Most of my distance and asynchronous learning in higher education has involved discussion boards with specific prompts relating to the lesson material for that module. The prompts for the discussion boards have gotten more abstract over the years, which I cannot be sure if that can be attributed to increasing levels of education or a pedagogical change as people have gotten more familiar and comfortable with technology and distance learning. Blogging seems to be the next step along that line as it contributes to collaborative learning, reflection, communication, and social support (Boltivets et al., 2018). This is also my first time creating a blog, but I will admit it did not convey the same feelings for me. As a learner I value the exchange of ideas but have never been comfortable sharing ideas or opinions on the wider internet. I look forward to seeing how this works out!

    Reference
    Boltivets, S., Acharya, S., & Santos, A. (2018). Educational blogging: Implications, benefits and challenges to pedagogical practice. Psychreg Journal of Psychology, 2(2), 106-114. Retrieved from https://pjp.psychreg.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/105-114.pdf

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  2. L. L. CoppSeptember 6, 2024 at 11:16 PM

    Hi Tim. Your observation that discussion boards promote safety and comfortability are aspects of the tool that I had not considered. These aspects would be important to learners in the first stages of SSDL learning, in which they seek more educator directed learning. However, I think that these characteristics can become a deterent to moving beyond the "interested learner" stage of SDL. In my own teaching experience (pre-COVID), the quality of student engagement on discussion boards was often lackluster, with significant paraphrasing and repetition, even when the discussions were student led. After reading about enhanced discussion boards (Hamadi et al., 2023), I am more than willing to admit that my design of assignments was probably responsible for some of the problem. The move online during the COVID pandemic has prompted significant innovation in discussion boards with the use of video creation, artificial intellegence, and other digital tools. It is imparative that as technology reshapes learning, educators evaluate the effectiveness of current LMS applications.

    Reference
    Hamadi, H., Tafili, A., Kates, F.R., Larson, S.A. Ellison, C., and Song, J. (2023). Exploring an innovative approach to enhance discussion board engagement. Tech Trends, 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s11528-023-00850-0

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brooke R.September 7, 2024 at 10:54 AM

    Hi Tim, I agree that self-directed learning is as successful as the work the learner puts in it and that it mainly depends on the characteristics of the learner (Grow, 1991). While I enjoyed this, it has definitely been a learning experience for me to put a blog together and I did miss the sense of familiarity that a learning management system, such as Canvas provided. I agree with Celdrán et al., (2021) that blogging offers many benefits to learners such as increased self-fullfillment, showing strengths, and cerebral benefits.

    There were also safety concerns that I had with blogging, because anyone on the platform could comment on our posts, and while that would add more insight, it could also erase the comfort of sharing with our peers. As social websites, take browser data and usually sell it to advertisers, it raises a cyber security concern (Hamid et al., 2020).

    Thank you for the great post, Tim!

    References:
    Grow, G. (1991). Teaching learner to be self-directed. Adult Education Quarterly, 41(3), 125-149.

    Hamid, A., Alam, M., Sheherin, H., & Pathan, A. S. K. (2020). Cyber security concerns in social networking service. International Journal of Communication Networks and Information Security, 12(2), 198-212.

    ReplyDelete

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