Fielder (2003) defines weblog as a 'reflective conversational tool for self-organized learning' which nest captures the constructivist spirit with which the tool can be used for fostering autonomous, self-directed learning approaches.
WHY BLOG????
- Blogging creates a 'social semantic web', (Downes 2004), where content and identity are bundled together.
- presents them with opportunities to converse with people outside the classroom in a meaningful way
- create a sense of ownership
- situated in an authentic, flexible, and upredictable social context,
- create a sense of community that would be less likely to emerge in a conventional classroom setting - Nardi Schiano, Gumbrecht & Swartz (2004)
- engage people in collaborative activity, knowledge sharing, reflection and debate -William & Jacobs (2004) p.232
- authentic communication context
- motivating factor
- learner autonomy
- access to infomation
- class management
- lack of participation from readers outside the classroom
- technical and financial problems
- IT and internet literacy
- escessive volume of infomation
- pedagogical requirements
- preparation time
