Blogging activities in higher education: Comparing learning scenarios in multiple course experiences

Abstract

Blogging has been used in education with various goals and within various contexts. While many benefits of its application have been shown, it is not always clear what kind of blogging tasks should be used, and what is the proper methodology for their implementation, given certain educational goals. In this paper, we provide a large scale experience report on the use of blogs in several courses, run in two universities over multiple years, with more than 1500 students enrolled overall. A catalogue of blogging activities used for learning is provided, outlining their purpose and structure; their integration in four courses (different in terms of curriculum, student background and instructional approach) is also described. A set of findings and practical guidelines are drawn from our experience, which could prove useful to other educators who want to foster student learning through blogging.