ABS190 - Design experiments in online spaces: Collaborative academic blogging

This presentation charts the development of collaborative academic blogging activities for students in online spaces.  The project involved extending blogging assignments to graduate student groups in four online courses.  By taking a design experiment approach, the blogging project allowed for consideration of the iterative process of infusing blogging practices into existing distance learning environments.  Bound up in these efforts was the goal of creating sustainable contexts supportive of engagement with the scholarly literature and professional development. The presentation will explore ways of designing educational practices that are contextualized within the perspectives and intellectual needs of learners.  Research questions posed acknowledge that online spaces are unique learning environments and seek to understand how researchers and designers can create contexts that are relevant to learners and supportive of meaningful learning outcomes.