"Exploring the Benefits of Blog Use in First-Year Composition: A Pilot Study"

Jennifer Hewerdine

Jennifer M. Hewerdine recently earned her Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University - Carbondale. She currently works for the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee. Her research interests include multi- and eco-literacies, collaboration, and the development of ethos.

Contents

Introduction

Blogging

Method

Results

Realized Public Audience

Agency

Blog Ownership

Metacognitive Use

Implications for Use and Research

Works Cited

Blogging

One potential outlet for online writing is blogs. Blogs allow writers to incorporate pictures, videos, hyperlinks, music, and other audio elements, letting bloggers communicate with their audience in a variety of modes. In addition, blogs are customizable to fit the genre, theme, or style of the writer. The variety of writing tools, customization options, widgets, and applications creates a more customizable writing environment than traditional pen and paper, typewriter, or word processing software can provide. Blogs have become popular online communication tools because they are low cost or free to use and allow users to write from anywhere with an Internet connection, even from mobile phones. Blogging sites are open to anyone and used by a variety of people and organizations, including celebrities, news sites, and even politicians and political parties.  Mark Warschauer and Douglas Grimes (2007) confirmed that blogs were quickly becoming the most popular form of personal writing (p. 5).

Composition instructors can use blogs to take advantage of tools that provide for a variety of communication methods, including uploading attachments, inserting hyperlinks, embedding photos and movies, and writing using a variety of text fonts, colors, and sizes. The implications for blog use in first-year composition (FYC) classrooms are wide-ranging, and ever-evolving technologies expand these uses further (see Wei, 2010; Tougaw, 2009; Tryon, 2006; Glogoff, 2005; Lowe and Williams, 2004). For instance, students can create websites and have a portion of the site dedicated to a blog that acts as a journal or reflection tool. Teachers who have incorporated online writing into their pedagogical practices noted that students demonstrate increased agency, a greater awareness of public audience, ownership of text, and metacognitive awareness when composing (Clark 2010, p. 34; Glogoff, 2005, n.p.; Lowe and Williams, 2004, n.p.; Peterson, 2008, p. 150; Tougaw, 2009, p. 252; Tryon, 2006, p. 128). These traits allow for greater options and creative use in the composing process, ostensibly increasing personal investment in writing. In my study, I found that public audience, increased opportunity to display agency, and feelings of blog ownership led to greater interest in writing. Students seemed to use the blog intuitively for metacognitive and reflective purposes.