Weblogs as instruments for reflection on action in teacher education

Abstract

This study examined the use of weblogs as a means to promote student teachers' reflective practice. The assumption was explored that weblogs are suitable tools to support and stimulate reflection on action in teacher training and consequently to enhance the students' ability to reflect. Three groups of student teachers used weblogs to reflect on teaching practice during an 8-week internship. Students were asked (a) to reflect on their own teaching experiences and (b) to provide peer feedback. Analyses of the student contributions show that weblogs are useful for reflection on critical incidents in the classroom and that they can stimulate interconnectivity in groups of students. However, weblogs do not incite deep reflection or spiral reflection, which can only be the result of explicit instruction. This exploratory study further shows that large-scale quantitative research is needed to support the premise that weblogs are suitable tools for reflection.

Keywords:

• weblogs
• blogs
• reflection
• teacher education
• social networks

Acknowledgments

This research was conducted within the framework of the project “Weblogs als Reflectie-Instrument”. The Digital University of the Netherlands is gratefully acknowledged for funding this project (DU project no. 6066).