Abstract—This study was conducted in an effort to determine what effects the implementation of blogging journaling activities into the teaching and learning of writing in the high school classroom would have on writing skills and student satisfaction. Three distinct journaling styles were compared: Group 1 consisted of participants who handwrote their journal entries each week for eleven weeks, Group 2 consisted of participants who word processed their journal entries each week, and Group 3 consisted of participants who blogged their journal entries each week. Overall, the findings indicated that the implementation of a blogging component into a standard writing course positively impacted the academic performance of participants; however, in spite of increased performance levels, the inclusion of blogging did not impact the level of enjoyment experienced by students any more than traditional instructional writing methods.
Index Terms—Active learning, blogging, high school, teaching writing.
J. C. Kush is with the Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282 USA (e-mail: kush@duq.edu).
N. R. Miller is with the Katy Independent School District, Katy, TX 77494 USA (e-mail: nrothmiller3@gmail.com).
Cite: Nicole Roth Miller and Joseph C. Kush, "Active Learning as a New Technology: Examining the Effects of Blogging in the Teaching of Writing," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 6, no. 10, pp. 772-776, 2016.