Viewing and participating: Blog visualization and its learning outcomes in blended learning

Abstract

This study reports on the effects of visualizing blogs on student learning. The research was conducted in a blended-format undergraduate course on English in the workplace for engineering students. In online learning research, visualizing online posts, such as forum and blog entries, has been explored. However, although technical issues have often been emphasized in the literature, the impact of these visualizations on student online behavior and learning outcomes remain unexplored. Phase 1 research executed by the authors revealed that viewing the online performance of other members can function as a self-regulatory mechanism to facilitate the participation of class members. Phase 2 forms the core of this paper. It measured the objective learning outcomes of students under the performance monitoring condition facilitated by a blog visualization tool. In addition, mobile access to blog writing was tested with the aim of increasing access to writing opportunity. Pre- and post-tests in English writing were administered, which revealed a positive change in writing proficiency for two-thirds of the students. This research revealed only the weak utility of mobile access. The study concluded that visualized self and class monitoring could produce higher learning outcomes in the targeted skill when accompanied by a clear and appropriately challenging goal for online participation.