Paper Info
Title
Using Blogs to Enhance Critical Reflection and Community of Practice.
Abstract
Using the theories of critical reflection and community of practice, the aim of this paper was to explore the use of blogs as a reflective platform in the training processes of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers, who were learning to teach English for future employment in Taiwan. They made use of blogs as a platform to critically reflect on their learning processes as well as to gauge the impact of blogs on their own professional growth. Forty-three student teachers in two teacher-education programs at two science and technology institutions in central Taiwan participated in this study. Two instructors created a blog for use as a discussion forum so that the student teachers could engage in and examine their own reflection process. The data collected was qualitative in nature, consisting of student teachers' posting messages and comments on the blog, surveys on the student teachers' reflective experiences using blogs as reflection tools, and group reflective dialogues recorded by instructors in class meetings over the implementation of blogs during the course. The results showed that the student teachers actively discussed teaching theories and their implications through blogs. All of the 43 teachers who took part in this study were reflective, and some critically reflected on their thoughts and made significant comments; and the participants considered technology a useful platform for reflecting and communicating with each other. The positive implications for the use of blogs as a medium to provide and promote critical reflection for EFL teachers are discussed.
Year
Venue
Keywords
2009
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY
Blog,Hypermedia instructional programs,Virtual community,Reflective journal for language learning,Technology for language learning,Computer-mediated communication
Field
DocType
Volume
Content analysis,Critical reflection,English as a foreign language,Computer science,Professional development,English second language,Pedagogy,Computer-mediated communication,Mathematics education,Community of practice
Journal
12
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
2
1176-3647
41
PageRank 
References 
Authors
3.00
3
1
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Shih-Hsien Yang11039.72