What is Pedagogy?
Pedagogy is the art and science of
how something is taught and how students learn it. Pedagogy includes how the
teaching occurs, the approach to teaching and learning, the way the content is
delivered and what the students learn as a result of a process.
Pedagogical Potentials of Blog:
Among other approaches to
intercultural learning, blog technology has been increasingly used to foster
cross-cultural communication and awareness (e.g., Carney, 2007; Ducate &
Lomicka, 2008; Elola & Oskoz, 2008; Lee, 2009). Research findings have
revealed that blogs afford students the opportunity to gain cultural knowledge
from different perspectives (Elola & Oskoz, 2008; Pinkman, 2005). For
example, using task-based activities, Lee (2009) in her recent study of
Spanish-American telecollaboration demonstrated how group blogs empowered
students by raising cultural awareness through ethnographic interviews. Despite
the favorable results, Carney argues that blogs open a new online discussion
forum rather than a deeper cultural exchange due to the post-comment structure
of blogs that results in brief exchanges and lack of continuity. Thus, teachers
need to find ways, such as using guided questions, to stimulate students’ high
order thinking to build upon further discussions.
Writing, as one of the key components of language learning is undoubtedly essential in tertiary education. However, studies have shown that students consider writing as an extremely difficult area in learning English. Students lack writing skills and they are demotivated to write in English. Thus, discovering new ways of teaching and learning would be beneficial to all involved in teaching and learning. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) in teaching and learning have offered many ways of improving the learner’s writing skills such as using online forum and blogs.
With this blog, students will be able to sharpen their writing skills and thinking as the basis of a blog is writing. Whatever knowledge or input presented is shaped in writing. Writing skills can be enhanced if students are always writing either by typing or writing by hand. In addition, skills in critical and creative thinking can also be enhanced by the writing on the blog, because what is written in the blog is its own ideas and not taken from any other sources because all blogs are not the same and do not have the same content. At the era of ICT, students are more likely to be facing the computer from school books for content and interest because more students nowadays tend to have something interesting, simple and interactive. Great teacher should also have a blog because this is one of the measures of effective teaching and learning and this blog can be accessed by students at any time, whether at home or anywhere. So the process of teaching and learning does not just happen during school hours and not necessarily only happen in school. In ICT era, the process of teaching and learning takes place 24 hours with the presence of Educational Blog.
Blogs make the revising stage
easier where the learners can add what they would like to express and also can
change any points that they think are not appropriate. It is easy to edit and
revise using blogs because the learners can make use of the edit post and
delete post features since typed feedback can be amended any time before being
forwarded to the writer. Blogs can be used as a tool for observation:
student-based observation and teacher-based observation. In the latter, blogs
provide teachers with total access to every individual learner blog where
students’ progress can be monitored. Based on the students’ interaction and
comments, the teacher can guide them to be focused and observe students’
negotiation. In the student-based observation, blogs enable the learners to
observe their own progress. Learners are benefitted as they can refer to the
previous comments and re-read all the drafts which are stored in their blogs.
This retrieval feature allows students to enhance their autonomy in making
corrections and reflecting on their writing. This motivates students to reflect
on the process of learning in which they are actively participated in a recurring
learning cycle.
*****thank you for reading*****
