CITE Journal - Science: Blogs: Enhancing Links in a Professional Learning Community of Science and Mathematics Teachers
Small study of reflective blogging to build a learning community with teachers. Overall, the results were positive and the teachers felt the experience was beneficial, but there were some technical and other difficulties.
Anyone who can access the Internet can be part of the knowledge-access, knowledge-building,
information-exchanging culture, regardless of location.
Learning communities do not have to be built through face-to-face interactions.
They can be realized using nontraditional electronic communication.
Research suggests that in order for busy teachers to use an asynchronous learning
environment they must feel part of a shared vision, have a sense of ownership
of some part of the site, and benefit from the shared perspectives of others
(Robertson, 2007). Providing the kind of scaffolding that has these features
is challenging. Teachers are not typically given the time or the venue to
share, discuss, or see examples of pedagogical alternatives for their classroom
on any kind of regular basis (Darling-Hammond, 1997).
<p>Although our sample size is rather small, the findings of this study suggest
that most participants (community college faculty members, mentor, and intern
teachers) recognized the value of blogging as a platform for sharing resources
and ideas and reflecting on personal experiences. Several teachers were planning
to use blogging with their own students. </p>
<p>Blogging seemed to at least indirectly benefit most PLC-MAP teachers in terms
of integrating technology into their own teaching practices. </p>