Blogging: a tool for nurturing ‘professional voice’?

1. Blogging: a tool for nurturing ‘professional voice’? Moira Savage m.savage@worc.ac.uk University of Worcester

2. Context • Trainee primary teachers • BA QTS (ICT module) • Year 1, term 1… 136 students • One of the first modules in September • Some mature students but mainly straight from college or school • New people • New environment • New course • To be a learner AND now a teacher • New expectations • New profession • New demands… … reflective professional practitioner- finding their ‘professional voice’

3. Activity aims: building on timetabled sessions • Personal journey- challenge to think beyond themselves as a learner to being a teacher responsible for others learning! • Build confidence (time to think before speaking, not on the spot, saying out loud, testing the waters…) • Supportive forum of peers • Provide a real audience– public, dialogue • Regularsmall opportunities to voice- • ideas about classroom implementation • Express opinions in a critical, constructive and professional manner • Reassurance and/or inspiration (looking at what others were writing) • Discovering whether own ideas resonated or were discordant • Showcase developing ICT capability by attaching assets including graphics, audio, video…sense of achievement HOW… • 5 group gateways (136 too big & daunting) • Compulsory but not formally assessed (rehearsal) • Journal of learning and or reflection over first 10 weeks • Not anonymous (accountability for any comments made) • Everyone had ‘view’ and ‘comment’ rights

4. Product or process?Small and regular steps • Typically at the outset: • quite descriptive • often egocentric (self…children they will be teaching) • Create individual blog, share to gateway • Personalise, add photo and list 2 learning partners …

5. Embedded links and files

6. Student feedback: unprompted comments from the end of module feedback when asked to name 2 things they liked most about the module… “I also liked that we had to do a blog after each lesson because now I can look back on what I did”. “the use of the blog as it motivated me to record what I had done in each lesson which I may not have done otherwise”. “…regarding blogs. I like the idea of completing them online and attaching other work. Also to view peer’s blogs”. “blogs- I can look back on sessions that were weeks ago and know exactly what I learnt and did”. “the reflective responses being on a blog kept it much more organised and easier to do”. “having online reflective responses on PebblePad. I like the fact you can see and comment on others”.

7. “I found using the gateway for blogging very useful as I am not very good at using ICT and this style of reflective responses has helped to improve general ICT skills. I found my confidence increased during the module due to the fact I could assess what other students had written as it was useful to understand that I was also doing it the same way”.

8. observations

9. Lessons learnt… Tips: • Confusion over separate ‘thoughts’ as entries for the blogs (a few deleted the individual thoughts and then realised entries disappeared). • “Did not like the blogging, I lost my work on more than one occasion and had to restart again”! But • “I wish it could be used throughout the course and not only in this module”.