Blogs and Communities of Practice

With the flourishing of social networking online, there has been much more interest as of late in the “communities of practice” learning theory. Etienne Wenger defines Communities of Practice (CoP) as “groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (Wenger, 1998). A primary focus is learning as social participation – that is, an individual as an active participant in the practices of social communities, and in the construction of his or her identity through these communities (Wenger, 1998). In this posting, I will seek to explain how this theory fits within the context of learning with social software, in particular, Blogs.

Blogs basically function as an online journal that can be written by one person or a group of contributors. Entries contain commentary and links to other Web sites, and multimedia (images, videos, audio) can also be included. A web log in itself is rather individual and also often personal but “when a blog is related to other blogs, they become social, and communities or networks are formed” (Daalsgard, 2006, Social Software section, ¶4). The very nature of blogging can “engender the drawing together of small virtual groupings of individuals interested in co-constructing knowledge around a common topic within a community of practice” (Boulos et al, 2006, Blogs section, ¶2). This could extend to a global community of practice. As Alexander (2006) states, the social nature of blogging means that collaboration between classes, departments, campuses, or regions is easily supported (Alexander, 2006, Projects section, ¶12).

Blogs boast a level of participation and a greater sense of community and debate is encouraged as a consequence. (Williams & Jacobs , 2004, Introduction, ¶2) The potential of blogs combined with RSS feeds and social bookmarking serves to further strengthen the community of practice. This model, according to Daalsgard (2006) serves to “facilitate closer relationships and more frequent interaction between students and teachers by their sharing of work and references and their engagement in discussions” (Daalsgard, 2006, Personal Tools section, ¶10). New patterns and connections emerge as a result, bridging the individual voices of blog authors into wider networks and communities linked by common domains and personal relationships (Wenger et al , 2005, Bridging Tools section, ¶5). The motivation to become a more central participant in a community of practice can provide a powerful incentive for learning. It appears that by “creating the learning work in a community, students become more engaged with their learning and it gains a higher status with them. They own it “ (Seitzinger , 2006, Community of Learners section, ¶3).

Distance learning has typically been viewed as isolating. However, Blogs may provide new strategies for bridging feelings of frustration and isolation by offering more engaging and interactive content and by supporting the emergence of individual voices in a distance-learning environment (Dickey , 2004, Introduction, ¶2). In a study done by Dickey (2004), it was found that “the use of blogs as a discourse tool for small group learning communities supported the emergence of community by affording students opportunities to socialize, interact and enter into dialogue, seek support and assistance, and express feelings and emotions” (Dickey, 2004, Discussion section, ¶1). Oravec (2002) states that blogs are well suited for distance learning and other educational settings "in which individuals pursue independent research yet coalesce into a learning community for certain purposes" (Oravec, 2002, Genre section ¶2). A study by Xie and Sharma (2005) found that blogs supported learning by providing different viewpoints, and they could also connect the learning content to their own experiences (Xie and Sharma, 2005, Positive Perspectives section, ¶1). This falls in line with both the community of practice, as well as constructivist, theories.

It is though, important to keep in mind that these tools were not developed for educational purposes, which means that a directed effort is necessary to develop educational social software tools to support learning activities (Daalsgard, 2006, Conclusion, ¶2). As far as a community of practice, blogging provides opportunities for students to interact in meaningful ways that extend instruction in the virtual classroom.




References

Alexander, Bryan (2006). Web 2.0: A new wave of innovation for teaching and learning?
Educause Review, 41(2). Retrieved February, 2009, from http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/Web20ANewWaveofInnovation/40615

Boulos, M.N.K., Maramba, I., & Wheeler, S. (2006). Wikis, blogs and podcasts: A new generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education. BMC Medical Education. 6(41). Retrieved February, 2009, from http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6920-6-41.pdf

Bryant, Todd (2006). Social software in Academia. Educause Quarterly.

Dalsgaard, Christian (2006). Social software: E-learning beyond learning management systems. European Journal of Open and Distance Learning. Retrieved February, 2009, from http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2006/Christian_Dalsgaard.htm

Dickey, Michele (2004). The impact of web-logs (blogs) on student perceptions of isolation and alienation in a web-based distance-learning environment. Open Learning, 19(3). Retrieved February 2009 at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/copl/2004/00000019/00000003/art00004

Leslie, P. and Murphy, E. (2008). Post Secondary Students’ Purposes for Blogging. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 9 (3). Retrieved February 2009 from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/560/1140

Oravec, J. (2002). Bookmarking the world: Weblog applications in education. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45(7), 616-621. Retrieved February, 2009, from ERIC.

Seitzinger, J. (2006). Be constructive: Blogs, podcasts, and wikis as constructivist learning tools. Learning Solutions e-Magazine. Retrieved, February 2009, from
http://www.elearningguild.com/pdf/2/073106DES.pdf

Wenger,Etienne, White, Nancy, Smith, John & Rowe, Kim. Technology for Communities. CEFRIO Book Chapter 5.2. Retrieved February, 2009, from
http://technologyforcommunities.com/CEFRIO_Book_Chapter_v_5.2.pdf


Williams, Jeremy B. and Jacobs, Joanne S. (2004). Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 20(2), p. 232-247. Retrieved February, 2009, from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/13066/1/13066.pdf

Xie, Y., & Sharma, P. (2005). Students’ lived experience of using weblogs in a class: An exploratory study. Retrieved February 2009 from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/a6/dc.pdf