The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012

The Impact of Weblogs in a Secondary History Classroom on Achievement and the Common Core Curriculum Standards: A Literature Review

Submitted by: Anna Newton EDTC 625 March 31, 2012

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The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012

Abstract Blogging began in the mid 1990s; however, it has recently been gaining popularity in the world of education. Blogging allows students to interact with experts, classmates, the teacher, and the world. Blogging also allows students to improve their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills because blogging is a reflective process. This review focuses on how Weblogs can be used to improve reading and writing skills in the secondary history classroom and meet the new Common Core Curriculum Standards that have been adopted in several states, including Maryland. This review will focus on the use of blogs in the secondary history classroom, the advantages of using blogs, and the disadvantages of using blogs in the secondary history classroom. It will also analyze possible solutions to the disadvantages of using blogs in the secondary history classroom in an effort to increase their effectiveness in improving reading and writing and critical thinking skills and meet the new Common Core Curriculum Standards.

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The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 Introduction The art of teaching is constantly changing and adapting along with the society it aims to educate. Technology is a large aspect of our current society. A large percentage of our population has high-speed internet at home and our current students are very familiar with technology. While technology changes constantly at a blinding speed, the education field is trying to keep up with technological changes. The education field tends to be slower when adopting new technology and practices. This is due to various factors, such as lack of funding, lack of training for teachers, lack of support by the administration, and curriculum standards that must be met on high-stakes state-mandated standardized tests. Many teachers get bogged down in trying to prepare students for these standardized tests and many unfortunately teach to the test and push rigor and development of skills off to the side. In the state of Maryland, every high school student must pass three HSA (High School Assessment) tests as one of the requirements to gain a high school diploma. The three tests are in English II, Algebra, and Biology. The LSN (Local/State/National Government) HSA test was eliminated during the previous school year. In June 2010 the Maryland State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards in English/Language Arts and Mathematics. The standards for English/Language Arts also include literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. These Common Core Standards seek to address the development of certain skills that high school graduates will need in college and the workplace, such as reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language skills (Maryland State Department of Education, 2010). Teachers have the hard task of preparing students to meet these new Common Core Standards and some teachers also need to prepare students for state mandated standardized tests as well, while meeting the unique learning needs of the technology savvy Net Generation. The 3|Page

The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 Net Generation expects to use more technology in the classroom and tends to multitask using multiple modes of technology all at once. They move at fast pace and can become easily bored or disengage in more traditional classrooms. Teaching the Net Generation must take into consideration the technological skills and prior knowledge that they have, and employs it to meet the Net Generations needs. One of these needs is technology and easy access to learning. Many people in the education field have pointed to adopting various social media technologies to address the Net Generations educational needs for accessible learning. One of the tools that has been suggested and is currently being used by many educators at all levels is the Weblog or blog. A Weblog is an easily created, easily updateable Web site that allows an author (or authors) to publish instantly to the Internet from any Internet connection (Richardson, 2010, p. 9). Blogs have been around since the mid-1990s, yet many teachers today are not familiar or may have just recently started using blogs in their classroom. Proponents of blogs argue that blogs can increase student motivation, writing skills, engagement, and learning in all subjects. They also argue that blogs can extend learning outside the classroom and give students more control over their learning by creating a more collaborative learning environment. This literature review will examine the uses of blogging in the secondary history classroom and will discuss the impact of blogging on student achievement. In addition, this paper will look at the issues that prevent teachers from adopting blogging and some ways these issues have been resolved. Uses for Weblogs in the Secondary History Classroom Blogs are being used as class portals, online filing cabinets for student work, eportfolios, collaborative space, knowledge management, and even school Web sites (Richardson, 2010, p. 20). While none of the uses mentioned by Richardson are exclusive to 4|Page

The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 history classrooms, they are great examples of how blogs can be effectively used in the secondary history classroom. The class portal is a way for teachers to communicate information to parents and students in their class and is a great course management tool. For example, if a student is absent, the teacher can post the objectives, activities done in class, and the homework that all have electronic files that the student can download at home. This will help students keep up with their classes. It can also be a great way for parents to review the syllabus or to stay up to date on what their son or daughter is doing in class. Blogs can also function as an online filing cabinet for both students and the teacher. Richardson argues that a classroom could theoretically go paperless when using a blog. Students can post their work and gain instant feedback from their teacher and peers. The students can also reflect back on previous assignments and postings. Teachers can also use this as an online filing cabinet that can help improve their teaching. For example, teachers can easily look up an archived posting to see what materials and what was taught that day and reflect on the effectiveness of the lesson, thus improving upon it for future years. Blogs can be used as a collaborative work space where students can work together online in a way that fits their schedule. Many students are involved in afterschool activities and have jobs that prevent them from meeting in person on a group assignment. While the previously mentioned uses for blogs could be adapted for any subject matter, they are extremely useful in the history classroom because they contribute to a well run classroom. It is common knowledge that a well run classroom contributes to student learning because there is little to no confusion about assignments and expectations for the course. Another use of a blog for the secondary history classroom is the ability to interact with experts and others across the globe. No one person can be an expert in every subject area of history; there is just too much to know. Now with the blog there is an easier way for students and 5|Page

The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 teachers to access experts in specific fields, according to Langhorst (2007). Langhorst gave an example in his article about an assignment on the Oregon Trail. In the past he held a debate after viewing the PBS documentary on the Donner Party where one group documents evidence in the film that proves that Hastings was responsible for the fate of the wagon train, while the other documents evidence that proves he was not responsible. Now with his class blog he had students create a two minute video that presented their evidence and recorded the debate. He then had the authors and researchers for the documentary listen to the student debate. The experts gave detailed commentary on the debate and gave more information that was not in the documentary. Langhorsts students gained the ability to work with experts in the field and had a rewarding experience because the high quality of the debate was acknowledged by the experts. Besides interacting with experts collaboratively in a blog, students can also work with other classes and students from around the globe on a project. This can broaden students minds and open them up to differing viewpoints and experiences despite the distance. Finally, blogs can be used in a secondary history classroom as a place for reflective and analytical writing to take place. According to Brenda Dyck (2012), blogs is where students could debrief write their thoughts after our daily classroom discussions, and they would be a jumping-off point for future classroom interactions.I would post questions, as well as primary and secondary resources, to encourage students to explore their questions and conundrums. Dyck had her students complete a telecollaborative project on homelessness, but this could be used daily, weekly or any other schedule with students to help them achieve in class. This allows the students to prepare for class discussions, continue class discussions, or work together to clear up concepts and ideas from class. This can also be a great formative assessment for teachers to help guide their teaching. This can also be a way for the teacher to 6|Page

The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 create a stronger learning community and give more control of their own learning to the students. In this same space, students can comment on each others blog or the class blog to help teach each other. This interaction will create a stronger learning community because they share experiences and according to Yang & Chang (2011), students learn as much from each other as they do from an instructor or a textbook (p. 127). Advantages to using Weblogs in the Secondary History Classroom Teaching todays Net Generation requires teachers to reevaluate their teaching techniques. For many history classrooms, there is not a lot of interaction with the content. The typical assessment cycle involves the teacher lecturing followed by a test administered at the end of the term, after which students forget nearly all that they have learned (Chen & Bonk, 2008, p. 41). This traditional method of teaching has been criticized because it does not teach skills to the students in order for them to become lifelong learners and have the ability to learn how to adapt to new situations where they need to think on their feet. The teaching technique that is being encouraged across the globe and in all subjects is constructivism, where students construct their own knowledge through experiences. The teachers role shifts from knowledgeteller to coach or learning guide (Chen & Bonk, 2008, p. 41). In order for students to construct their own knowledge in a history classroom several things need to happen. On the students level they must learn to reflect and analyze their own thought processes and critique their analysis. Cheng and Bonk (2008) argue that a blog can help achieve this task because blogging is based on reflection and self-evaluation, which gives students a technique to improve their own learning and ideas. This is also a great formative assessment tool for teachers at the same time because it allows teachers to examine the students thought process as the course is in progress. Teachers

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The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 can then stop to address any misconceptions or errors in their learning. Teachers also can use the blog as a permanent record of students progress. Another benefit of blogs is that they allow individuals and groups to share ideas over the internet in various and multiple formats (Poyntz, 2010, p. 37). When students collaborate with peers and experts, everyone shares their collective knowledge for the good of all. According to Stonehouse, Keengwe, & Shabb (2012), blogs are preparing us for a future driven by peer production and networked learning (p. 45). The Common Core Standards stress preparing students for the work force and for college. Students will learn how to communicate, discuss, and co-build knowledge from the collected information, through online communication, to seek solutions to problems in learning activities (Lo, 2009, p. 212). Constructivist and problem-based learning that starts in the classroom can be easily extended online in blogs because they are interactive according to Risinger (2006). Since blogs have an interactive and collaborative nature, many teachers are using them in the classroom to improve skills in the classroom. One teacher spoke of their personal experience with blogging with their class in an article by Ferriter (2009), I teach my students to challenge the thinking of digital peers with their commentsand to enjoy the challenges that others make to their own electronic thinking. At the same time, my students are learning to create, communicate, and collaborateand to manage and evaluate information found online (p. 37). Since blogs can be interactive, constructivist, and collaborative in nature students gain skills in directing their own learning, thus creating a more democratic learning environment. They also gain reflective skills that will help with their reading and writing abilities. Students expect teachers today to be more responsive then they have ever been in the past, since technology and communication tools are constantly at our fingertips. Blogging helped a history 8|Page

The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 teacher at Hayfield Secondary School to become a better teacher and connect with the kids (Hobbs, 2011). This better connection with the students can also allow students to be more creative in history assignments, which in turn will be more fulfilling and motivating for students according to Hofmann (2009). This idea is also supported by Lai & Chen (2010), they state that blogs help promote more constructive and enthusiastic discussions and enable students to better regulate and enhance their own learning (p. 948). Reflection is a very important tool in helping a history student become more successful, particularly in reading and writing, which are the key aspects to the new Common Core Standards that will soon be implemented in Maryland schools. According to Martinez (2012), reflection allows recapturing and evaluating experiences transformative impact on individuals personal or professional development (p. 202). Martinez goes on to explain that reflective learning uses what is known as double loop learning, which focuses on the process of learning to learn and it develops metacognition. The development of metacognition is extremely important in history because it strengthens a students ability to complete a task using strategies that they have learned. Metacognition will help students learn how to decipher primary sources and create an argument in a written response. History courses in the secondary setting are not meant to imprint facts in a students mind, it is meant to help students become active citizens of a democratic society. An education for equity enables students not only to acquire basic skills but to use those skills to become effective for social change (Manfra & Lee, 2011, p. 97). The constructivist, collaborative, interactive, and reflective nature of the blog allows for the development and improvement of skills that are crucial for students to increase their achievement in reading and writing in the secondary history classroom setting. Reading a primary source document or text in a secondary history classroom class can almost feel like you 9|Page

The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 are reading a foreign language, especially to a student. In order to navigate through these texts and improve their reading skills, students need to develop critical thinking skills. Some indicators of critical thinking in history is making comparisons, analyzing and drawing conclusions through an examination of different types of source materials, according to Woo & Wang (2009, p. 431). Woo & Wang argue critical thinking skills are improved through writing reflective blogs and through their initial research they found their findings provide good justification to believe that students do apply critical thinking skills in writing their weblogs and by doing so, their critical thinking can be improved over time (p. 438). Blogging can also be used to help improve students academic research. According to Chong (2010), academic research requires critical processing of knowledge with the application of any attendant discipline-specific skills to produce new understanding, ideas or products (p. 798). Chong studied to determine if blogging about the research process enhanced the initiation into academic research. He found encouraging results because the blogging helped students think about the writing and research process and comments from peers and the teacher helped to improve their research. Blogs can also be used to complete their research. According to McClurken (2012), who happens to be a former professor from my undergrad years, many historical scholars are blogging their research, which can be incredibly valuable for students to learn about the research and for teachers to find out the newest scholarship. Disadvantages to using Weblogs in the Secondary History Classroom While the previous section of this literature review focused on the advantages to using Weblogs in the secondary history classroom, this section will focus on the difficulties that prevent weblogs from fulfilling the goal of increasing student achievement, particularly in reading and writing. Teacher training, technical issues, curriculum, assessment, and student 10 | P a g e

The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 attitudes towards blogging can all have adverse effects on the effectiveness of blogging in the secondary history classroom. Many teachers already use blogs for personal and professional uses, but others have never used blogs at all and some may feel that blogs positive effects do not outweigh the negative effects. One of the main issues that teachers have that prevent them from using blogs in their classrooms is time. According to Lai & Chen (2010) many teachers feel that the effort required to compile, input and explain knowledge in blogsTeachers may also have to respond to extraneous requests (from students) (p. 949-950). Many teachers feel that there is a strain on their time already and blogs would add to amount of work they already have. Teachers who have never used blogs may also fear using a new Web 2.0 tool because they are unfamiliar with it and online resources always change at a fast pace. According to Martinez (2012), teacher training programs have incorporated ICT (information and communications technology) skills and TEL (technology enhanced learning) training for new teachers to some extent; howeverwith various degrees of weariness (p. 202-203). Besides lack of training and time for teachers, there is a technical issue that can also stand in the way of using blogs effectively in the classroom. In one study of using blogs in a U.S. History class, if multiple users tried logging onto the blog site at the same time, it often resulted in an error page stating the site was temporarily unavailable (Manfra & Lee, 2011, p. 98). These small technical issues can lead to frustrations for both the students and teacher, which can diminish the impact of using blogs. Another issue that can cause problems when trying to implement blogs in the classroom is the curriculum itself. While the Common Core Standards address reading and writing skills, there are also content standards that are required for history courses and some have very strict pacing guides and high stakes standardized tests at the end of the year. According to the study by 11 | P a g e

The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 Manfra & Lee of a United State History class, Mr. Jones normally embraced a defensive teaching strategy, perhaps as a consequence of a high structured, centrally organized school curriculum. He, like other teachers, faced the tension between preparing students for the end of course test and teaching them life lessons (p. 100). Teachers find that sometimes they have very little control over what they can teach, which in turn can limit how they teach it, especially with time constraints. Another issue with using blogs in the classroom is assessment. Many teachers and researchers found that they experienced a low participation rate of students using the blog (Stonehouse, Keengwe, & Shabb, 2012, p. 45) and they also do not get the desired outcome of critical thinking, reflection, and improved reading and writing skills (Woo & Wang, 2009, p 433). Teachers also face the issue of how do I take a qualitative-based activity like a blog and turn it into a quantitative grade? (Dyck, 2012). Student attitudes towards blogging are another issue, which may cause the lack of participation and inability to meet desired outcomes as discussed earlier. According to Hofmann (2009), some students see participating in class blogs as an encroachment on their private time or as a burden, while those who do participate do not engage their peers and only wrote for the teacher. The last part that Hofmann discussed prevents students from learning and collaborating with each other, which is one of the strongest features of blogging in education. Some teachers feel like mandated blogging or flogging does not work and that is why students do not always achieve the goals of increased achievement (Chong, 2010, p. 800). Solutions and Research Needed While there are disadvantages and issues with using blogs in the history classroom, there are some solutions that have been discovered. To help teachers properly use blogs in the 12 | P a g e

The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 classroom, Manfra & Lee (2011), suggest new standards for teaching in which the teacher is more of a facilitator instead of a dictator; where they use the constructivist teaching model. While there are technical issues in using blogs, the best advice is deal with it as best as you can. You should teach your students how to use the blog and its features to make blogging as smooth as possible. If the site becomes temporarily unavailable due to too many people logging on at once, you could have the students try later, or create a system where some students are blogging while others are working off-line. Always having a back-up plan is vital when teaching with or without technology. The biggest issue that was discussed in the research was meeting desired outcomes and assessing the blogs. Multiple articles cited that students did not analyze historical texts, and their posts were superficial. According to both Manfra & Lee and Stonehouse, Keengwe, & Shabb, students did not meet the full potential of improving their writing and critical thinking skills. However, Stonehouse, Keengwe, & Shabb offer some solutions. They noted that it is very important to provide learning objectives prior to blogging so students understand its purpose and if students feel blogging is useful to their learning; they are more likely to accept it (p. 45). So teachers must scaffold blogging and cite specifically what they are looking for in a post while inciting enthusiasm in the students. Woo and Wang (2009) created a list of ten categories of critical thinking characteristics they were looking for in blogs and developed an equation called the Critical Thinking Ratio (CT) to determine the criticalness of blog posts (p. 432). Dyck (2012) also offered her own blogging rubric in her article in Education World. As long as you have standards that are clear with students, they are more likely to meet them. In conducting the research for this literature review, there were very few articles that specifically addressed blogging in the secondary history classroom. Several of the articles 13 | P a g e

The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 analyzed were either about college level history courses, addressed blogging in education in general, or were for other subjects other than history. However, all of the articles could still be applied to the secondary history classroom because the strengths and weaknesses of blogging are similar in all subjects and levels in education. More research is needed in order to understand the full impact of blogging on reading and writing skills on secondary history students. Conclusion Despite disadvantages in using blogs in the secondary history classroom, the benefits outweigh them. Blogging increases student achievement in reading, writing, and critical thinking skills that are pivotal to the Common Core Curriculum Standards that have been adopted in several states across the nation, including Maryland. Blogs allow for constructivist, collaborative, interactive, and reflective teaching and learning. This increases student metacognition and their achievement in the secondary history classroom. Blogs must be used appropriately by the teachers in order to reach these desired outcomes of increasing student achievement in reading, writing, and critical thinking. To do this, teachers must align content standards appropriately and scaffold the blogging process in order for students to understand and appreciate the benefits of blogging. More research and discussion on how to teach the blogging process in the secondary history classroom is needed in order to assess the true impact of blogging on reading and writing skills on secondary history students.

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The Impact of Blogging in the Secondary History Classroom EDTC 625 Spring 2012 Works Cited:

Chen, W. & Bonk, C. (2008). The use of weblogs in learning and assessment in Chinese higher education: Possibilities and potential problems. International Journal on E-Learning, 7(1), 41-65. Retrieved from http://www.aace.org/pubs/ijel/ Chong, E. K. M. (2010). Using blogging to enhance the initiation of students into academic research. Computers & Education, 55, 798-807. doi:10.1016/jcompedu.2010.03.012 Dyck, B. (2012, February). Log on to a blog. Education World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/ Ferriter, B. (2009). Learning with blogs and wikis. Educational Leadership, 66(5), 34-38. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership.aspx Hobbs, H. (2011, November 11). Teachers connect with students using technology. Fairfax Times. Retrieved from http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/ Hofmann, J. A. (2009). Blackboard or blog? Some thoughts about creating and assigning on-line components in college history courses. Teaching History: A Journal of Methods. Retrieved from http://www.emporia.edu/~teaching-history/ Lai, H. M. & Chen, C. P. (2011). Factors influencing secondary school teachers adoption of teaching blogs. Computers & Education, 56, 948-960. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2010.11.010 Langhorst, E. (2007). After the bell, beyond. Educational Leadership, 64(8), 74-77. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership.aspx Lo, H. C. (2009). Utilizing computer-mediated communication tools for problem-based learning. Educational Technology & Society, 12(1), 205-213. Retrieved from http://www.ifets.info/ Manfra, M. M. & Lee, J. K. (2011). Leveraging the affordances of educational blogs to teach low-achieving students United States history. Social Studies Research and Practice, 6(2), 95-106. Retrieved from http://www.socstrp.org Martinez, C. D. A. (2012). Developing metacognition at a distance: Sharing students learning strategies on a reflective blog. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 25(2), 199-212. doi:10.1080/09588221.2011.636056 McClurken, J. W. Just about it! Part 1 [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://teachinghistory.org/digital-classroom/ask-a-digital-historian/24545 Poyntz, N. (2010). History blogs. History Today, 60(5), 37. Retrieved from http://www.historytoday.com/ 15 | P a g e

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Maryland State Department of Education. (2010). Maryland Common Core State Curriculum Frameworks. Retrieved from http://mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/reading/index.html Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin. Risinger, C. F. (2006). Using blogs in the classroom: A new approach to teaching social studies with the internet. National Council for the Social Studies. Retrieved from http://www.ncss.org/ Stonehouse, P., Keengwe, J., & Shabb, C. (2012). Using blogs as a technology tool to promote teaching goals in education. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 8(1), 44-52. Retrieved from http://www.igi global.com/journal/international-journal-information-communication-technology/1082 Woo, H. L. & Wang, Q. (2009). Using weblog to promote critical thinking: An exploratory study. Proceedings of World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 37, 431439. Retrieved from http://www.waset.org/publications.php Yang, C. & Chang, Y. S. (2011). Assessing the effects of interactive blogging on student attitudes towards peer interaction, learning motivation, and academic achievements. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 28, 126-135. doi:10.1111/j.13652729.2011.00423.x

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