Using blogs for critical reflection a case of

Using blogs for critical reflection: a case of a blended postgraduate module Cheryl Brown & Dick Ng’ambi

Context - teaching Teaching Strategies have a strong authentic learning focus. One dimension is to • provide the opportunity to reflect Pedagogically reflective writing has • Metacognitive benefits • Expresses understanding and captures ideas • Creates intellectual space for learners

Reflection • Becoming aware of and assessing taken for granted assumptions in order to construct a more valid belief (Mezirow 1991) • Its about the “you plus course material” (Ross 2012) • the kind of thinking that consists of turning a subject over in the mind and giving it serious and consecutive consideration (Burnett and Lingam 2007) • Active and deliberative cognitive process involving sequences of inter connected ideas which take into account underlying belief and knowledge

Process of reflection • Descriptive writing - reports events. • Descriptive reflection - attempts to provide reasons based upon personal judgment • Dialogical reflection - discourse with one's self through the exploration of possible reasons • Critical reflection - involves giving reasons for decisions or events, which takes into account the broader historical, social and/or political contexts. Adapted from Hatton and Smith 1995

Critical Reflection • • Assumptions - thinking in such a manner that it challenges our beliefs, values, cultural practices, and social structures in order to assess their impact on our daily proceedings Contextual awareness - Realizing that our assumptions are socially and personally created in a specific historical and cultural context. Imaginative speculation - Imagining alternative ways of thinking about phenomena in order to provide an opportunity to challenge our prevailing ways of knowing and acting. Reflective skepticism - Questioning of universal truth claims or unexamined patterns of interaction through

Blogging • Web 2. 0 saw growth in technology with increased emphasis in participation over presentation • Blog - online journal that users can continuously update in their own words (Matheson 2004) • Progressed from a “geek niche” to dominant publishing paradigm on Internet.

Gartner Education hype cycle 2011 Off the hype cycle • • Blogs Grid Computing Microblogging Podcasting Learning Content

Blogging in Education • Promoted in literature as student centred learning • Ability of online writing linked to students productive thinking and reflection (Churchill 2011) • Learning journals, records of everyday life, Space to express emotion, means of assessment, task management tool (Sim and Hew 2010) • Yinger and Clark (1981) believe that reflection results written down are more powerful than

Blogging - affordances • Enables people with little technical knowledge to publish thoughts opinions and emotions online • Personal writing space in which to reflect • Enables self expression and self reflection • Research suggesting use of blogs positively affected depth and breadth of reflection (Stiler and Phileo 2003)

Reflection in our course • • Private blogs (in LMS) Used as learning journals Assessed (10% of component of course mark) Closed (only person reading bogs is the teacher) • Literature does raise concern about assessment influencing reflection BUT we dont assess content rather participation, engagement and level of criticality reached

Role of teacher • Responding by asking stimulus questions or probes • For example • Reacting - reacting with a personal comment about the posting. • Elaborating – commenting on other postings, or referring to a general principle, a theory, or position. • Contemplating – trying to focus the student on constructive personal insights or on problems or difficulties Adapted from Surbeck, Han, and Moyer (1991)

EXAMPLES OF TYPES OF REFLECTION

Descriptive writing • A lot has happened in the last two days (Wednesday & Thursday); and I have been exposed to a range of technologies that can be used to enhance one’s traditional teaching & learning techniques. Quite interesting, the instructors (presenters) did not only focus on exposing us to the Technologies, they continuously referred us to publications, journals, and people (experts in the field) that have used these tools, and we were provided with evidence of how technology has been used… it was made very clear to us that a lot of planning needs to be

Descriptive reflection • • We were assigned the task to create a podcast. In hindsight the task was relatively simple: create a recording of yourself introducing a resource and upload this to the dropbox as a podcast. Well, frankly, there was meltdown and a hint of chaos. A fellow student sniped about his frustrations on Twitter while most gathered around those who looked like they were getting somewhere. After a frustrating 45 minutes and too much carrot cake, I completed the task…with help from those around me and in turn passed forward that which I had learned to others struggling along. I chatted to the tweeter about his progress, finding out that he had gone home frustrated, focussed on other related tasks, consulted You. Tube and from there, completed the task. He acknowledged that using the classroom community of practice could have been an option and maybe next time he would do so. This situation brought to mind Dick’s comments in his lecture about determining the right time to help someone in need and how in the Mathematics case study an option to send an SMS for a hint was offered. In our case too, we had control over when to ask to help. In terms of educational interaction, student to student and student to content took place.

Dialogical reflection • I can't believe we're more than halfway through the course already. It was really nice to have lectures by Dick and Cheryl today. And mobile learning has me really excited, because I definitely think that I'll be able to implement it in my teaching. It's weird to think that something like a cell phone could be an educational tool, but after the sessions today there really do seem to be so many ways to incorporate into lessons. From using QR codes, which I think is an incredible idea, to allowing students to sms answers or questions during class, to recording lessons so that you can play them back, I've even seen students take photos of their homework instead of writing it down. The only reservation I have with using cell phones in class is that I'm worried that my students will spend all their time on bbm or whats app or facebook or anything else that will distract them from work. If only there was a way to ensure that they didn't do this. Maybe cutting the signal in the classroom, so that they could only use it for academic purposes, or alternatively making the lessons so entertaining and enthralling that they want to pay attention. But I suppose that's what we're all striving to do, especially through the use of technology. The other problem I have with having students send smses, is that it's wasting their airtime, which they might not be very keen to do. I think I'm going to look into if there's a way to set up a toll free number that they can sms, preferably one I don't have to pay for. . . Unfortunately my brother just pointed out that he thinks you still have to pay for toll free numbers. Maybe this needs a bit more looking into.

Critical reflection • This may sound like a "daily diary"paragraph, but it is not. I am specifically referring to that as I reminded myself that I am experiencing the pressure our students are under. Constantly. Because of TSi. BA's extended contact hours, students are on campus 08 h 30 - 17 h 00. They hold down part time jobsand the learning curve is steeper as they arrive at TSi. BA ill prepared for tertiary studies. They have commitments at home and transport problems. And we are merciless with deadlines. How do they feel? Are we sure that this is, and should be, part of the higher education "skills set" as it were? What is the affordance of insisting on attendance registers, closing doors when exams started, changing assignment dates, expecting more than one assignment due on the same date? I am not advocating for "lowering the standards" but it was good to see how I had a tense 1/2 hour when I was annoyed, cranky, tired and mentally dull. Fortunately the power of self reflection pulled me

FROM DESCRIPTIVE TO CRITICAL

Descriptive reflection • The concept of evolving technologies was well articulated and equally provoked critical thinking concerning the 'flipped classroom' and the Gartner Hype cycles including the functional cycles. Laura Czerniewicz put the icing to the cake on this subject in the context of trends and practices in Higher education. I found the illustrations given by these two lecturers on terms such as 'disruptive' and 'affordances' quite enlightening.

Reacting, elaborating, contemplating • Teacher response • You really are being very committed to documenting your experiences here. Its been nice to read. Tell me when you think an emerging technology can have a disruptive (negative) effect in your context and a disruptive (positive) effect and why. I know we have covered alot in class already but I am interested in how you imagine some of these working (or not working) in your own work life back home.

Challenging assumptions • Student response • • I spent a good deal of time this evening to read a little more on the concept of “disruptive change/technology”. I first begun by exploring the synonyms of the word disrupt, these were the words I got: disturb, upset, interrupt, dislocate, disorder, unsettle; whereas disruptive had: troublesome, troublemaking, unruly, disorderly, unsettling, disrupting and disturbing (Word Thesaurus). All these words portray a negative connotation, that of bringing up confusion. Therefore, if one was to by this notion, then one would infer ‘disruptive change/technology’ as that which is disorderly or that which brings about trouble! And yet, these emerging technologies up through innovative ways meant to add value to their functionality.

Contextual awareness • With further reading and reflection, one example of a disruptive technology/change that came to my mind was the mobile phone. This technology has brought about a lot of development in Zambia in terms of communication and the way people in general carry on with their lives. Just this evening, my over 65 years old mother called me on her mobile phone and we were able to discuss many issues. Writing a letter would have taken long, and probably may have found me gone to Lesotho.

• Imaginative speculation When I think of my students back in Zambia, whether in secondary school or university, most of them have the mobile phones, and keep improving the versions of smartphones they get. Many of these students are able to utilise the many affordances these smartphones come with, although I should be quick to point out they spend much of their on social media, but all this a positive thing. For the university studies, they are unable to receive their assignments, results, announcements on these platforms. With the knowledge I have gathered now, I am now provoked to think of best practices I could use to tap into what these students possess, the skills of using these mobile phones. . . As Velestsianos (2010) argues, ‘we should remain open to the idea that existing ways of teaching and the designing of learning environments may not serve the twenty first century purposes of education’.

Reflective skepticism • • All these words portray a negative connotation, that of bringing up confusion. Therefore, if one was to by this notion, then one would infer ‘disruptive change/technology’ as that which is disorderly or that which brings about trouble! And yet, these emerging technologies up through innovative ways meant to add value to their functionality. . . . the man who coined the term ‘disruptive technology’ described a disruptive innovation as an ‘an innovation that helps create a new market and value network, and eventually goes on to disrupt an existing market and value network (over a few years or decades), displacing an earlier technology. . . I found this definition interesting as it had the words (in bold) – disrupt and displacing which may denote disorder (negative) as earlier alluded to, and yet in the definition we see the driving force, to improve a product

Dilemmas Authenticity • Focus on self expression and reflection • Capturing or recording ones experiences to extract meaning from them Audience • Students writing for the person who is marking it • Dependency on feedback • Right way to write

Student comments • • • The blogs. I enjoyed the space to reflect. Feedback is also useful. The blogs helped me reflect on my learning and progress. The blog sessions forced me to critically analyse my views. I have to make a lot of changes. Initially, the blogs as I was not so sure of what was supposed to be reflected on. After the clarification, I knew what was expected of us. I really liked it and, as mentioned in a blog, felt "connected" to the group and the course. It feels "safe" that everything is there.

Conclusions • Not all students demonstrate productive blogging practice “Need to get into this reflecting task. Never been good at keeping a diary. The closest I have to that sort of daily record is my bank statement and online/email trail. ” Andrew 29 Mar

But. . . • Most students managed to be reflective and our experience has shown that it is possible - with strategically guided questions - to move student along the continuum of reflection to become more critical.