Using blogs as a core

part of class activity

Sheila Webber, Information School

University of Sheffield Learning &

Teaching Conference

January 2014

• Focus on blogging activity that is a core element in

the design of a Masters level class

• I coordinate the class, designing learning and

teaching & leading the teaching team

• Module: Inf6350: Information Resources and

Information Literacy

Basics about the class

• Core class for taught Masters students (15 credits

i.e. one quarter of the credits for one semester): MA

Librarianship and MSc Information Management

• 2013/14: 101 students: 70 Chinese; 17 Home; 6

European; rest from 5 other countries

• Students

– arrive with variety of first degree subjects

– have a variety of career aspirations

– some have work experience

Sheila Webber, 2014

Learning objectives By the end of the module inf6350 students will:

• understand key aspects of information literacy and information

behaviour including: the nature of information needs,

information seeking strategies, and the complexity and

contextual nature of information literacy;

• be able to demonstrate their information literacy (e.g. expertise

in accessing, using, comparing and evaluating information

resources including databases such as DIALOG; ability to

communicate, evaluate and use information channelled

through Web 2.0 applications such as wikis and blogs; ability

to abstract and synthesise information) and to reflect critically

on their information literacy performance

Seven Pillars model of Information Literacy (http://www.sconul.ac.uk/) & some key activities

Evidence Based

Information use

(Evaluate &

Manage)

Blogs and

other Web

2.0 tools

(Scope and

Present)

Abstracting

(Present)

The information

universe (Scope)

Google secrets

(Plan and

Gather)

Monitoring

(Identify &

Gather)

Communicating

using posters

(Present)

Legal & ethical

use (Manage)

Wise use of Wikipedia

(Evaluate and Manage)

Information

interviewing (Identify

& Scope)

Database secrets

(Plan & Gather)

Identifying

your need

(Identify)

Assessment (individual)

1. 15 item annotated bibliography (30%)

– student negotiates narrower topic from within ones

set by tutor

– has to include some variety in publication channel

2. literature review (30%) based on items from

bibliography

3. reflective report (40%); reflecting on the

student’s information literacy in carrying out the

assignment.

Learning environment

• Base room: a big computer lab, with bays of 8 computers either side

• Use of Blackboard VLE for powerpoints, handouts, information on assignments etc.

• Variety of activities, for example – “Information literacy in our future careers” - group

poster preparation and exhibition in Jessop West

– Smaller-group seminars, on abstracting & discussing a research article

– Focus on types of searching (search engines, Dialog, journals etc.)

• Have used teams & blogs for 3 years

Why blogs? • Are used in business & in public sector: we provide

readings on this

• Provide a small-team focus in a larger class

(socialisation)

• Place to share resources (e.g. link to favourite Web

2.0) and perceptions (e.g. of their information literacy)

• Practice e.g.: writing in English; presenting

information; collaborating; copyright issues

• More creative options than MOLE; Better for team

focus & reflections than Twitter

• Web 2.0 a focus for some dissertations

Teams & blogs: practicalities • I allocate students to teams of 4 (i.e. 2 teams per bay),

before week 1 session (i.e. day before!)

– mix nationalities, as far as feasible

– allocate teams to tutors (3 teaching assistants + 2 faculty

members - me and one other - in 13/14)

– deal with dropouts/late comers for first few weeks

• I place sheets with team letters on the bays in the lab &

give out team list during introduction

• After introduction, people find their team’s bay

• Team starts by creating Team blog (1 per group) using

Blogger & doing introductory blog posts

Class blog: http://inf6350-2013.blogspot.co.uk/

I link team

blogs from

main blog

Working with blogs

• Majority of students have not blogged before: big

range of experience with Web 2.0 (in both

international and home students)

• Set up blogs in class: support needed (& not just in

week 1): didn’t allow enough time 1st time round

• Activities involving blogging in class time + a couple

of between-class activities e.g. preparation for an

“Information Universe” session

• Some activities involve interaction between teams

(e.g. evaluating each others’ blogs)

Team Q

Blogging not assessed • Focus on blogging activities scheduled more in first

half of semester, before assignment fever grows

• Very good level of participation in initial posts,

including between-session posts

• Last-formed teams (mostly late-comers) never

caught up

• For in-class sessions, good to have stretch goals for

the teams more familiar with blogging/English

• Had modest prize for best team blog, presented in

week 11

Best team blogs: criteria 1. Sustained effort & team contribution

- contribution from whole team

- Minimum of a post on each of: team introduction; 7 Pillars; Information

Universe; search tips; IL in context; Web 2.0

2. Are the posts relevant and interesting?

3. How good is the visual appearance of the blog? e.g.

- Can you read the text easily?

- Is it easy to find your way round the blog?

- Is the blog attractive to look at?

- Have they included visual elements?

4. Have the team used Blogger design & layout features? e.g.

- Have they included a list of links?

- Does it look like they have customised the blog layout?

- Have they included other Blogger widgets (e.g. page, followers, tag cloud,

music)?

• We get students to judge each others’ blogs using these the criteria eary in the semester

Blog - winners

• Team Q: Chloe Turner,

Emily Wheeler,

Yixuan Gao,

Dongmei Han

http://teamqinf6350.blogspot.co.uk/

• Team A: Roisin Cassidy, Jayne Drew,

Catherine Hoodless, Lynsey Shenton

http://informationgroupa.blogspot.co.uk/

Team aspect

• Teams sit in the same place in the lab each week

• Get to know their team members

• Can more easily monitor who is missing/ not

contributing: team members report on each other

• Some students not comfortable with the web, helped

by teams (sometimes too shielded by them too?)

• Logistically useful when students divided up & going

to different rooms (they know their Team)

Blog aspect

• Visible learning about blogs (i.e. they improved) &

some more confidence in using features like

embedding pictures and videos

• Blogs useful for tutors in monitoring understanding &

engagement

• Tangible focus for in-class discussions with learners

about collaboration etc.

• Surfaced differences in use of Web 2.0 in different

countries, for discussion by learners

• Opportunities for those whose strengths are

visual/design

Changes/ improvements

• Give more motivation for interaction between blogs

• Needs a more active co-leader on blogging (other

tutors support blogging, but I give main impetus: it

suffered through my absence)

• Making even more use of past blog-posts in class

(already e.g. refer to examples, collate search tips)

• Clearer strategy for supporting those who are very

challenged by blogging

Sheila Webber

s.webber@sheffield.ac.uk

Twitter / Second Life: Sheila Yoshikawa

http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/

http://www.slideshare.net/sheilawebber/

Netvibes: http://www.netvibes.com/sheilawebber

Background on the first time blogs were used (in 2011/12):

http://www.slideshare.net/sheilawebber/reflecting-on-23-

things-using-23-things-in-an-information-literacy-class

"Information Literacy encompasses

knowledge of one’s information

concerns and needs, and the ability to

identify, locate, evaluate, organize and

effectively create, use and

communicate information to address

issues or problems at hand; it is a

prerequisite for participating

effectively in the Information Society,

and is part of the basic human right of

life long learning."

Information

Literacy

Meeting of

Experts

(2003)