Leveraging Educational Blogging to Assess the Impact of Collaboration on Knowledge Creation

Abstract

The landscape of education has changed drastically over the past two decades. There has been an ongoing shift from traditional classroom teaching practices to cope with the changing circumstances and requirements of today’s learners. The catalysts for such advancements have been the rapid adoption and use of internet-based technologies, which have dramatically transformed both teaching and learning. One such advancement which has excellent potential to be utilized as an effective learning tool in higher education is blogs. Classroom blogging presents a unique opportunity to not only deliver a form of distance education, but also encourage collaboration and participation among learners. This study explores the potential of educational blogging in higher education as a supplement to the current pedagogical practices. More specifically, it aims to gauge from a learner’s perspective the perceived benefits blogs can provide in scenarios where traditional learning practices are not feasible as a consequence of individual convenience or other forms of restriction due to pandemics, and natural disasters. This study further presents an effective design for a blog highlighting some salient features which can enhance the effectiveness of blogs for the learners followed by a discussion, which serves to highlight the several benefits of classroom blogging and presents arguments to show how the integration of this innovative tool into the curriculum can result in enhanced experiential learning, and development of soft skills.