apcampbell

I find it fascinating to re-examine what I have written in the past.  In doing so, I realize how much has changed within me in such a short period of time.  Last year, I did a case study (PDF) on the first group of bloggers here at the East Asia Center (EAC).  I adapted Clark Moustakas’ phenomenological research method in an attempt to capture the essence of what running a weblog was like for learners at our center.  After describing the experience for each individual participant, I constructed a composite of experiences for all the learners.  This is what emerged:

The Experience of Running a Weblog at the EAC

Running a weblog gave all of the learners a sense of ownership, which some described as ‘liberating’, ‘confidence boosting’, and a ’source of pride’.  The weblog is something personal with which the learners identified, like an extension of the self.  It is also authentic; something which can be affirming for some, yet can cause anxiety to arise in others.   The weblog validates their work and can motivate them to share more.  The accessibility the weblog offers to their thoughts and academic work allows family members and friends from home to participate, which most learners appreciated.  For others, the lack of participation from friends and family was frustrating.  Some saw the weblog to be an excellent learning tool for cultivating self-awareness, developing writing skills, and for creating a personal learning resource, complete with a historical record of all postings and the discussions which followed.  One participant likened it to a ‘journal that talks back to you’.  It was described as ‘useful’, ‘motivating’, ‘valuable’, ‘cool’, ‘free’, ‘personal’, ‘liberating’, ‘resourceful’, and ‘fun’.  It was also experienced as an aid to movement and fluidity in the learning process.  Posting to the weblog was like a release mechanism, giving the learner a temporary peace of mind, enabling him or her to focus on the next phase.  Running a weblog was time-consuming however, which caused the participants to feel pressured to keep up with reading posts and comments on other blogs, and writing postings and responses on their own blogs.  This led to stress, anxiety, and in some cases frustration.  One learner had an aversion to the reverse chronological format of the postings, while others expressed dislike for having to participate in blogs whose content was intimate and emotionally revealing, asserting that a weblog was not the place for that type of learning.  All participants professed the desire to continue maintaining their weblogs in the future, after the course was finished.

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