Presented Learning through Weblogs at the AACE E-Learn conference in Quebec City on October 16. AACE

Learning through Weblogs -

Abstract: The study reported in this paper examines students’ perception of the use of weblogs as
learning tools; it also explores evidence of learning within blog postings.  Two Ryerson
 University courses in Information Technology Management that require students to use
weblogs are taken as examples. Twenty-two students from these two courses participated
in an online survey concerning their blogging experience. The participants had very good
computer knowledge—most of them had previous experience using blogs. Most of them thought
that building and maintaining a blog was an easy task. However, the research shows that
students’ perception concerning the use of blogs as educational tools was neutral—students
 also perceived the impact of using blogs on their ability to learn the course material
 as neutral. The study shows a lack of clear communication between instructors and
students, which could have had a negative impact on students’ learning experience. 
Furthermore, the study indicates that most students perceived the content they posted
in a somewhat negative way. A content analysis performed on 22 blogs demonstrates that
that the objectives of each course played a significant impact on the evidences of learning
apparent in students’ blogs.  Students in group B demonstrated more evidences of learning
then students in group A. Overall, the study shows that the use of blogs as learning tool
 in university classrooms is promising. Providing students with clear goals, objectives
and expectations could help them to build and maintain their blogs in a way that could
e more beneficial to their learning experience.

 

Contrary to blog evangelism, blogging can sometimes even be detrimental in terms of building influence. That's counterintuitive, since the very rare person who achieves substantial influence via a blog is often widely touted as a success story."

 

Mark Tran writes: "Internet repression is eroding freedom of expression online as more governments block sites and arrest bloggers, a human rights group warned today."

Read the full article here.

Anna Broache writes: "The Bush administration on Thursday blasted a congressional proposal that would shield a broad swath of news gatherers, including some bloggers, from revealing their confidential sources. "

 

Ryerson recently honoured the winners of the fifth Graduate Student Research Article Competition. The competition challenges students to communicate the importance of their research in a manner accessible to the general public.

“These are the best examples of students who combine sectoral specialization with an ability to communicate to the world,” said Anastasios Venetsanopoulos, Vice-President, Research and Innovation.

The 2007 winners are:

• 1st prize, Engineering or Science Related: Declan Williams, Molecular Science – “Of Macrophages and Mass Spectrometers: Advancing Healthcare and the Understanding of how Life Works”
• 1st prize Social Sciences and Humanities: Peter Ryan, Communication and Culture – “Computer Geek Erotica: We know about the Red Pill, but was the Blue Pill Viagra?”
• 2nd prize: Claude Gagné, Communication and Culture – “Learning through weblogs: Are students afraid of learning?”
• 3rd prize: Eric Peterson, Molecular Science – “Cellulose, Sunshine, and Us: Microbial Ecology and the Fundamentals of Ethanol Biorefinement”

“It’s an honour,” said Peterson. “I’m very happy they feel this research is relevant and worth acknowledging.”

Peterson is attempting to improve ethanol production using readily available plant matter such as lawn trimmings and lumber byproducts. The goal of his research is to develop an efficient and sustainable energy source that does not rely on fossil fuels. “Ethanol is only part of the replacement for gas, but it’s a start,” he said.

Meanwhile, fellow Molecular Science master’s student Williams is analyzing proteins in white blood cells as part of a larger project led by his supervisor, Dr. John Marshall. Their research has applications in medical science, drug development and early disease diagnosis.

At the other end of the research spectrum, Communication and Culture students Gagné and Ryan are exploring the role of weblogs in student learning and the influence of art on technological innovation, respectively. Ryan hopes his research will foster increased collaboration between the artistic and scientific communities.

“As Ryerson continues to develop its graduate programs, it’s so important that this growth is accompanied by opportunities for students to not only participate but also to develop their own research careers,” said President Sheldon Levy.

"That's the question of the day in the navel-gazing world of the blogosphere. Robert Niles, the editor of the Online Journalism Review, recently decried what he sees as a tendency by journalists to characterise blogs as "a 'parasitic' medium" that feeds off the work of traditional newspapers and magazines. He calls the charge "a poorly informed insult of many hard-working Web publishers who are doing fresh, informative and original work"."

Full article here.

 

"Was the first blogger the irascible Dave Winer? The iconoclastic Jorn Barger? Or was the first blogger really Justin Hall, a Web diarist and online gaming expert whom The New York Times Magazine once called the "founding father of personal blogging"?"

 

"An Egyptian blogger was sentenced to four years in prison for insulting Islam and the country's president, Hosni Mubarak, in the country's first prosecution of a blogger."  www.freekareem.org

 

PCWorld's editors recently put together a list of their five favorite blogging platforms. Not too surprisingly, the list was topped with a Blogger, WordPress and TypePad trifecta. Lesser-known Tripod and Squarespace rounded out the list.

 

 

The rise in interest in Google's own blog in 2006 paled next to the millions of new users of its eponymous search service, but there was definitely an up tick. (David Needle)

 

Rafe Needleman writes about his experience with MyBlogLog:

 

"I just tried an odd new community tool, MyBlogLog. It's a system that lets you "join" a blog or site, which is cool because you can also see other people who are members of the site..."  Read the full article.

Like so many things in China, the size of its blog population is gigantic--34 million, according to the news agency Xinhua. But as its politics prove, size isn't everything. Read Mike Yamamoto's entry.

Your child wants to learn more about Martin Luther King Jr. You might consider consulting a librarian instead of Google, AOL or Microsoft search engines. Read Elinor Mills' article here. 

Michael Calorre asked readers of the Monkey Bites blog to sumbit their votes for the best and worst Web 2.0 sites out there.  Here's the result.

Yesterday marked the first OneWebDay, a global awareness event to "create, maintain, advance and promote a global day to celebrate online life." Full article here.

Sayeed Habibi considers himself a marked man. The reason: his Internet blog that challenges some of the policies of Iran's theocracy.

He predicts that someday - perhaps soon - he'll be taken to prison and his site will be shut down. "And another voice will be silenced," said Habibi, a 34-year-old postgraduate and an unofficial elder statesman for student-led activist movements. "I fully expect to see the inside of a jail cell." Full story here.