Reflection Activity: (2min)

Use the Zoom Chat function, to answer the following question: 

• Provide us with a short personal explanation of the value of blogging, as a learning activity in your module?

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1. Design blogging activity

Consider the broader module and learning outcomes when designing the blogging activity.

2. Setting blogging activities

Create the blogging activity in Blogs. Adjust the permissions, and publish the blogging activity.

3. Support students

Produce guidance to students on blogging activity expectations – what, when and how? Allow for a low risk pre-activity and link to technical support material. Make adjustments for differently abled students.

4. Submission

Communicate the blogging activity availability through different channels. Provide complete instructions for blog entries and commenting.

5. Grading and feedback

Determine how you will assess the blogging activity and students' process. You may choose to use a checklist, rubric, or the Marzano effort and achievement scale. You can also provide feedback through commenting on individual student blogs.

6. Recording grades

If the Gradebook tool is activated, you can create a Gradebook entry for the blogging activity to record the grades. Assessments can be categorised and assigned weighting in Gradebook.

7. Returning grades and feedback

Release provisional grades and feedback. Communicate the release of grades and feedback. Provide guidance to students on how to access grades and feedback. Inform students on how to respond to feedback. 

8. Moderation

Make blogging activities available for internal and external moderation.

9. Reflect and review

Reflect and review the blogging experience based on the module learning outcomes, considering the broader module/qualification context. Redesign/modify blogging activities if required.

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How Do Blogs Support Learning?

Blogs help grow learning communities by allowing students to share their own perspectives and experiences while learning about those of their classmates.

Blogs let students take ownership of their learning, offering them a space to test out tough problems, explore possible solutions, and basically do the hard work that critical thinking requires.

Blogs encourage creativity of expression by giving students a platform to experiment with a variety of genres, allowing for the unique personalities of both students and the lecturer to emerge.

Blogs create blended spaces capable of hosting a wide variety of multimedia: oftentimes images, audio, video, and other media can communicate ideas more effectively than written text.

Blogs give students opportunities to address audiences other than their lecturers: their posts could be read by other students, their parents, and visitors from across the globe.

Blogs foster opportunities for reflection and provide them with tangible evidence of their learning over time: students can look at their previous posts to identify recurrent patterns in their thinking, times of change or growth, and other markers of learning and development.

Blogs familiarise students with widely-used web content platforms: The knowledge and skills gained by writing and maintaining a blog are transferrable to a wide variety of work contexts.