Teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of blogging activities in promoting effective teaching and learning Fariza Khalid, Gordon Joyes University of Nottingham Thang Siew Ming, Pramela Krish, Yuen Chee Keong University Kebangsaan Malaysia

Phases of Implementation Phase 1  Meta-analysis of the literature  Identify and invite representative  Conduct a workshop for teachers Phase 2  Sharing of good lessons through blogs  Forum discussions of lessons  Online discussions with moderators through forum and s  Sharing of video clips of good lessons through the VIP Phase 3  Capture digital examples (video, audio and text) of the development of effective classroom practice  Sharing of research findings with teachers in the schools

What is blog?  “blog” is a frequently updated virtual environment that offers an integration of a diary, website, and an online community, a journal-like web space in which the author raises an issue and the author and fellow bloggers post their responses in reverse chronological order, most recent entries appear first (Clyde, 2005; Brownstein and Klien, 2006)

 Blogs are similar to conversation, but also can include weblinks photographs audio video  promote reading, writing, communication, and other academic skills  more in-depth than regular discussions or conversations (Borja, 2005)

Blog can be used..  as a place that gathers the inquiry information  as an environment for sharing and discovery  as a learning community where one’s work or activities can be posted, then discussed by all viewers  as a tool to connect to others and create a network of professionals that give them a sense of community

In our project …  Blogs are used to form online communities of teachers where they could discuss best teaching practices (as well as their problems) with others and this will provide resources of support for them to improve instruction and student performance.

How..?  Participants/teachers were put into three groups, based on the subject they teach (English, Maths & Science)  Three blogs were created – one for each  Two mentors were appointed for each blog  Blogs were set up as private – only members and mentors are able to log in and view entries and comments

Three blogs SCIENCE (9 teachers) ENGLISH (6 teachers) MATHS (5 teachers) 20 teachers

English Teachers Blog

Science Teachers Blog

Mathematics Teachers Blog

 Teachers involved in this project needed to build their blogging skills in order to feel comfortable in this online setting  The practice of using blogs was an important skill they needed to learn and feel comfortable with

Teachers Training Workshop (24 th Nov 2008)

Blog questions  Task 1 Describe one of your lessons that went very well. For this lesson, explain what you were teaching, how you were teaching and how you knew it went well. In your description of your lesson consider the following: a. Where did your ideas for this lesson come from? b. How was this different from other lessons? c. What do you think made the lesson successful? d. Did you learn anything from the experience? e. If you want to improve this lesson how would you do it? f. Have you shared your experience with anyone else?

…continue  Task 2 All teachers experience challenges. Could you describe one that was very challenging. Where did your ideas for this lesson come from? a. Where did your ideas for this lesson come from? b. How was this different from other lessons? c. What do you think made the lesson challenging? d. Did you learn anything from the experience? e. If you want to improve this lesson how would you do it? f. Have you shared your experience with anyone else?

Deadlines  Two deadlines given : 8th December 2008 – post answers 31 st December 2008 – discussions / comments

Progress?  Initially – slow progress, only few teachers posted their answers/shared their experiences  Mentors had to send gentle reminders to each participants as to get them going.  Communication done via s, short messages system (SMS), and phone calls.  Until date, most of the teachers managed to post their entry but the discussion/number of comments posted varies from one community to another

Does it work?  Do teachers get support from the discussion through the blog?  What are the things they like/dislike about the blog?  What hinders them from blogging?  How do they think things can be improved?

Data gathering  group interviews (4 th April 2009) Science group Mathematics group English group

Do they get support?  Teacher A: ”Yes.. It is a new thing that she told..” ”Since this is my first year teaching form 3.. What they gave (in the blog) can be useful.. So I can use it (in my teaching)”  Teacher B: “I like what I read.. And there were things that I applied then”  Teacher C: “Actually we like it. It’s nice.  Teacher D: “.. Because it is good for our extra knowledge.. Can share and get ideas from others..”  Others: “Yeah.. We get ideas”

What are the things they don’t like?  No notification sent to their s as to get them alert of new comment/s coming in ”This Blogger is not like... If somebody sent his/her message, there will be an notification like others... ”  The blog is ’too structured’ “The only thing with blogs…it’s like more on sharing lessons. Maybe more structured than compared to Friendster, where it is informal, you can let loose. Because of that it has made some of us not really keen on replying because it requires us to think while we’re typing”

Do they have any problem? Time constraint “kalau waktu sekolah… cikgu2 macam susah lah nak masuk blog-blog ni.. malam lah kalau free … kalau siang dia lebih pada program sekolah sendiri … kalau malam ada masa tu boleh la..” (during the school time, it is difficult to visit the blog, normally will do at night because the day time will be dedicated to school programmes, if i have time at night, then I’ll do …) “baca.. tapi nak menulis tu.. masanya terhad tu..” (I do read, but to write.. time is limited) “I also have problem with time as a lot of time I spend to prepare my lessons…”

 Other commitments “Another thing I’m not always in school, attending meetings etc. When I come back I have to catch up with my classes, with the documentation, the administrative work” “We don’t have enough time because we have a lot of duties in school. For example, in my school there are a lot of functions and teachers have to work for the functions. Time is the biggest problem” “Co-curriculum. Now you have to stay back for co- curriculum nearly everyday for marching…very tiring until 6 pm..” “Marching, co-curriculum activities, sports, meeting”

“kita takut jugak kalau yang kita komen2 tu dia tak setuju ke … so kadang2 kita macam terima ajelah.. a.. komen sikit sikit aje” (My concern is that they will not agree with my comments, so sometimes I just receive (others’ comments) and give less) “That’s one of the reasons. We’re worried that we are a bit show off, like as if we are so good, but we are not” “We don’t know each other so we feel it must be proper, formal” Lack of rapport(uncomfortable to comment as they have not known each other)

Teachers’ unwillingness to open to criticism “…and at the same time we are not comfortable with other people criticizing us, they may say funny things.”

Insufficient infrastructure “We have our own building without any facilities, computers. So for any facilities we have to come to the main block. By the time we come to the main building either a teacher is using the materials or the computers or the computers have broken down. Always break down. That’s the problem.”

“Kalau semua orang aktif., maknanya kita pun akan respon lah, tapi hari tu tengok macam.. baru ada dua.. jadi kita macam.. orang tak buat jadi kita pun (tak buatlah)…” (If everybody is active (in blogging), I will definitely respond to it, but that day I saw there were just two, so I didn’t (put in anything in the blog).. Nobody’s doing it, me neither) “.. tu la kadang kita tengok tengok juga tapi takdelah tambah apa2.. sebab takde respond kan..” (…that’s why.. sometimes I did visit the blog, but there was no response) Less participation from other members

“.. interesting..interesting … Cuma tulah tak ada ramai kan..” (It was interesting, only that the number (of members) is so small) “bila dah tak ramai katakan tiga orang kalau sorang tak masuk tinggal dua macam tak best lah..” (when the number of participants is small, then only two or three left, it seems less enjoyable) Small number of teachers in the communities

“I think one of the things is we are all teaching different levels. Sometimes when we want ideas, we realize our friends are not teaching that particular level. They can’t give us ideas for that level.” “Mine are weak students. I don’t mind sharing. Just that I can’t comment on others because I have no knowledge about the subject.” “My problem is I can’t comment on other people’s work because they major different subjects. They teach Chemistry, Biology.” Teaching different level of forms

Teacher forgot the blog’s URL  “I keep forgetting about the address…”

How they think things can be improved? Include expert teachers in the community so as to help inexperienced ones in carrying out their practices “Kenapa tidak masa nak buat ni minta guru pakar ke sebab saya rasa itu lebih dapat membantu la kalau kita tanya apa-apa …macam sayapun baru.. saya basic Science! Baru masuk Maths.. jadi masing-masing tengah belajar lah and kita akan tanya kat senior teacher..” (Why not include expert teachers (in the communities) as I think that will be helpful.. Like myself.. I am new (teacher) and my major was Science and just involved in Maths teaching.. I am still ‘learning’ and frequently asked senior teachers..)

Improve the approach as to get teachers involved in the discussion more frequently “May be the tasks given to us, the approach must be made more friendly. So the approach is very important, rather than giving tasks where we are saying about ourselves. Some of us are not comfortable with that. We also are sometimes not very friendly talking about our students.” “The approach must be improved. It should be more friendly and in a discussion mode.”

Summary  Sharing through blogs has its benefit as teacher would seek new ideas and apply it  To achieve the ultimate goal of sharing online – needs time and participation from all parties  To involve in discussion, people need relevant issues with what they are working on – talk about the same subject, the same level

 Borja, R. (2005). “Blogs” catching on as tool for instruction: Teachers use  interactive web pages to hone writing skills. Education Week, 25, 1, 17. Retrieved December 8, 2006, from the ProQuest Research Library database.  Clyde, L.A. (2005). Educational blogging. Teacher Librarian, 32, Retrieved November 25, 2006, from ProQuest Research Library database.  Brownstein, E. & Klein, R. (2006). Blogs: Application in science education. Journal of College Science Teaching, 35, Retrieved December 8, 2006, from the ProQuest Research Library database.  Lamb, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). Blogs and blogging, Part II. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 22, Retrieved December 8, 2006, from ProQuest Research Library database.