Exploring the Role of Academic blogs in a Blended Community: an Integrative Approach

This study explores the role of academic blogs in supporting a group of preservice teachers while they became physically separated during the teaching practice. Underlying our study is an integrative approach that puts academic blogs alongside with other media in an attempt to discern their comparative strengths and limitations. In particular, academic blogs are compared with personal blogs in terms of individual expressions and reflection; and with discussion forums in terms of social interaction and reflective dialogue. The study took a qualitative case study approach and focused on a group of preservice teachers during their teaching practice. Academic blogging has been found to foster individual expressions, reflection, social networking, and peer support. It affords a more flexible and expressive way of individual-centered expressions. However, it is not very good at supporting dynamic and interactive online discussions. Our study helps deepen the insights into the educational affordances of blogs and marks an initial step towards discerning the niche of blogs as an educational media.