Blogging: a tool for nurturing ‘professional voice’? Moira Savage University of Worcester

Context Trainee primary teachers BA QTS (ICT module) Year 1, term 1… 136 students One of the first modules in September Some mature students but mainly straight from college or school New people New environment New course To be a learner AND now a teacher New expectations New profession New demands… … reflective professional practitioner- finding their ‘professional voice’

Activity aims: building on timetabled sessions Personal journey- challenge to think beyond themselves as a learner to being a teacher responsible for others learning! Build confidence (time to think before speaking, not on the spot, saying out loud, testing the waters…) Supportive forum of peers Provide a real audience – public, dialogue Regular small opportunities to voice- – ideas about classroom implementation – Express opinions in a critical, constructive and professional manner Reassurance and/or inspiration (looking at what others were writing) Discovering whether own ideas resonated or were discordant Showcase developing ICT capability by attaching assets including graphics, audio, video…sense of achievement HOW… 5 group gateways (136 too big & daunting) Compulsory but not formally assessed (rehearsal) Journal of learning and or reflection over first 10 weeks Not anonymous (accountability for any comments made) Everyone had ‘view’ and ‘comment’ rights

Product or process? Small and regular steps Create individual blog, share to gateway Personalise, add photo and list 2 learning partners … Typically at the outset: quite descriptive often egocentric (self…children they will be teaching)

Embedded links and files

Student feedback: unprompted comments from the end of module feedback when asked to name 2 things they liked most about the module… “I also liked that we had to do a blog after each lesson because now I can look back on what I did”. “blogs- I can look back on sessions that were weeks ago and know exactly what I learnt and did”. “the reflective responses being on a blog kept it much more organised and easier to do”. “the use of the blog as it motivated me to record what I had done in each lesson which I may not have done otherwise”. “…regarding blogs. I like the idea of completing them online and attaching other work. Also to view peer’s blogs”. “having online reflective responses on PebblePad. I like the fact you can see and comment on others”.

“I found using the gateway for blogging very useful as I am not very good at using ICT and this style of reflective responses has helped to improve general ICT skills. I found my confidence increased during the module due to the fact I could assess what other students had written as it was useful to understand that I was also doing it the same way”.

observations Unpicking the student feedback: Chronological organisation Preferred to paper- attaching files and links Tutor access Expressing ideas and opinions- publishing to an audience Account of learning to look back on Viewing blogs of others throughout

Lessons learnt… Tips: Confusion over separate ‘thoughts’ as entries for the blogs (a few deleted the individual thoughts and then realised entries disappeared). – “Did not like the blogging, I lost my work on more than one occasion and had to restart again”! But – “I wish it could be used throughout the course and not only in this module”.