I really enjoyed
researching and reading about what exactly is the difference between Blogging
and Discussion Board. To me, I thought
it’s all pretty much the same. You write
and others respond. I don’t have any
experience with Blogging other than reading. Over the years, I have had plenty of
experience with Discussion Board (Ha!Ha!Ha!) from an online student and using
the Discussion Board feature in Blackboard as an online instructor. So my vote was definitely to use discussion
board but after reading about blogs and blogging in an academic capacity, I
like it.
As King and Cox
(2011) explain that blogging can provide self-directed learners (adults)
motivated to learn through expressing/learning/addressing real-life problems or
situations. A blog’s purpose isn’t to
start dialogue, but is meant to deliver a message and more individualized and
reflective thoughts and actions.
A Discussion
Board/Message Board is more back-and-forth, allowing everyone to post new
messages and articles as well as replying to existing messages. Message Boards are used to solicit feedback
from others and is a great tool for generating dialogue between users in a
group. Anyone can post a message and
users have a platform to respond to each other in a constraint free
environment. Discussion board to me, are
like a “Reply All” email.
The primary
difference, usually, is that Blogs only allow the owner to post messages and
content. Visitors can view, but not post messages and replies. If visitors are
allowed to post, it's almost always in the context of an existing message topic
or articles the Blog owner created. In other words visitors usually do not post
new message topics or articles, but rather respond to what the Blog owner has
posted.
A Message board, on
the other hand, allows everyone to post new messages and articles as well as
replying to existing messages. A general guideline to decide whether to use a
Blog or a Message board is to consider who will be posting messages/content to
your board. If only you will be posting, then use a Blog. If you want to allow
visitors to post new message topics/articles then use a message board.
On the downside of
Discussion Board/Message Boards is more of “answer the question and respond to
two classmates” type of thing. Is there reflective
in the board? A blog is more of a reflective
individual experience.
Creating the Blogs
process at the beginning of the course can be very stressful for the instructor
and/or learners. Also, speaking from an instructor’s
view providing feedback to the writer requires some real time and thought (King
& Cox, 2011). Instructors need to
spend time with blogging before utilizing in the classroom so they can have a
feel and understand the frustrations that learners may have.
I think there are
many benefits as instructors to make use of both in a course. As Freeman and Brett (2012) state “blogs have
gained acceptance in higher education for a variety of instructional
activities, among which, reflective journal writing is popular.” (p.1032). I
have to agree with Freeman and Brett that reflective writing, thinking and learning
can be enhanced by having the learners blog about the course. I also think the message board/discussion board
is a good thing for instructors to have a sense of knowledge gained and promote
collaboration between learners.
Melinda Bennett
King, K. & Cox,
T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC:
Information Age Publishing.
Freeman, W. &
Brett, C. (2012). Prompting authentic blogging practice in an online graduate
course. Computers & Education, 59(3), 1032-1041. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.03.019
Melinda,
ReplyDeleteI think the most prominent difference between blogs and discussion boards is public access. I have to admit that I am an avid comment reader—not just on blogs, but on news sites also. I am always amazed at how heated, contentious, and riled the commentators can be. If blogs are to be used for educational information sharing, comments should be open.
In his 2015 book, “Reading the Comments: Likers, Haters, and Manipulators at the Bottom of the Web”, Joseph M. Reagle Jr. lends insight to the topic of comments and reviews on the internet. There is a reason why comments are always at the bottom of the page!
According to Reagle (2015), “in 2012, Dave Winer, the person who often is credited with first deploying blog comments, disabled them, and it seems that many long-time bloggers have come to share Winer’s sentiment that comments are sometimes valuable but, on balance, ‘they’re not worth the trouble’ ” (Reagle, 2015, p. 177).
Managing and reviewing comments on a public blog can be time-consuming and possibly frustrating, detracting from the positive experience of blogging. While I admit that I find comments sections entertaining, I rarely, if ever, comment myself, preferring to keep my opinions and thoughts private. This is why I am partial to a closed discussion board for graduate level classes.
rlm
Reagle, Jr., J. M. (2015). Reading the comments: Likers, haters, and manipulators at the bottom of the web. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
And I forgot to add that Reagle adds a little humor to his somewhat anecdotal book.
Deleterlm
Interesting Robin. Thanks for the information and I will be looking into that book. I am a comment reader too but I never thought about why they put them at the bottom of the page (just thought that is where they go). I have a friend that has made a full-time job from blogging and she is always complaining about negative comments she receives. I tell her not to even worry about it but I know she does because it is her business (income). I will have to recommend this book to her.
DeleteI would like to use blogging in my courses but a little nervous about the time commitment. Not that I wouldn't put in the time but I already need 2 extra hours in a day and if I incorporate it I want to be able to give 110%.
Thanks again for the book recommendation.
Melinda Bennett
I was able to access the book through the library, which was nice!
DeleteI was able to access the book through the library, which was nice!
DeleteThanks Robin, I will check that out.
DeleteMelinda, as usual, you brought out a great point I hadn't considered!
ReplyDeleteYou stated,"The primary difference, usually, is that Blogs only allow the owner to post messages and content. Visitors can view, but not post messages and replies." and I had an aha moment! I had been struggling with the possibility of a hostile blog takeover, since blogs are usually open to the public, but your comment reeled me in. Because respondents ARE limited to replies, blogs are (or can be) somewhat self-regulating. I can see where it would be much easier to weed out an inappropriate comment in your reply thread. Also, most people will only respond to those things that actually interest them, therefore, it seems likely that an exchange of views would be attuned to the topic at hand.
I must say that the tone of your post is quite friendly and engaging which made me think wonder if you would consider your blog to be designed to demonstrate a desire for a more reflective blog or one designed to build community, or even from a faculty perspective, as described in King and Cox ( King & Cox, 2011) on pages 94-98?
Great post! And your blog looks awesome!
King, K. & Cox, T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Toni,
DeleteThank you for the reply. To answer your question, “would consider your blog to be designed to demonstrate a desire for more reflective blog or one designed to build community, or even from a faculty perspective” I am very interested in creating that online community feel with learners.
Remember back in the spring when we were in Dr. K’s Top/Social Media/Adults 21st Century course (such a great course). I will never forget it, chapter four in the textbook was dedicated to building online communities. Baym (2013) discussed five components 1) shared sense of space, 2) shared practices, 3) shared resource and support, 4) shared identities and 5) interpersonal support (pg. 73-92). Since that course and reading of the text, I always think about those five components when designing an online environment and much of that is displayed through my writing. When I was writing this blog, those five essentials came to mind.
Back to your question I try, for the most part, to make my writing reflect a community atmosphere so I am glad it came off that way. (Sometimes you can read my mind without me even saying it.)
Thank you for the reply, Melinda Bennett
Baym, N. (2010). Personal connections in the digital age. Malden, MA: Polity.
A great point about the read and reply x amount of times requirement that we always see in discussion boards. I have been thinking lately that there should be a better way to elicit discussion than the traditional discussion board. Perhaps blogging is the answer. It seems to allow more freedom to the students and loosens the restraints of the traditional discussion board answer and required replies.
ReplyDelete