Open and Distance Learning for Sustainable Development

However, it is notable that Faculties or Schools have not been keen on starting blogs. It would
therefore be expected that blogs about individual concerns (44%) were the highest, and that blogs
about ‘General Information’ scored 44% - this was information not directed to any particular
audience. Information for students specifically was just 9%. The table also shows that most of the
blogs were opened during 2007 (68%), although blogging started during late 2006 at UNE.
Table 2: Deleted (Were recorded in March 2007 but not appearing in the blog list) (21/55 =
38%)
Key: Numbers represent percentages
Category % Information for Started
Personal Student General Not
clear
2006 2007
Personal
Administration
76 76 - - - 5% 71
Faculty / School Educ.
Arts
Society / group 24 19 5 24
Total 76 19 5 5 95
However, Table 2 shows that there were at least 21 blogs by March 2007. This number, compared
to only eight new blogs so far initiated between January and March 2008, implies that the rate of
opening new blogs dropped in 2008. The survival rate of blogs shows just 41% beyond 12
months. This figure is low bearing in mind that Table 1 shows that 26% had posts for less than
two months only, while Table 2 shows that 38% of the blogs had been discontinued by March
2008. In Table 2, the majority of discontinued blogs belonged to those about personal concerns
(76%), and, of course none of these survived beyond 12 months. None of the Faculty/School
blogs had been discontinued.
Blogging at other Australian universities
The rest of the data on blogs in other universities were checked during March 2008. It is reiterated
that the focus of this paper is the pedagogy in blogs. Hence, particular interest was focussed upon
student participation in blogging at these universities. In that regard, there were interesting blogs
at the Australian National University (ANU) (http://cnma.anu.edu.au/blogs/). This blog had a
group of 12 students and a convenor in the Faculty of Arts. The convenor of the blog stated that,
The main reason for the blog was to provide an e-journal space for students to write
about their ideas and comment on the class sessions. In class we discussed various
approaches to writing and identity and used the blog as a more informal space. (Gates-
Stuart, e-mail communication, February, 2008).
The following quotations attest to the reflective nature of the postings on this blog:
Following on from my thinking in the last post, just a few last words on visual effects
and their changing role in the documentary. Visual effects are typically used in
documentary, …
One of the most interesting things to come out of the second research forum (for me)
was …
( http://cnma.anu.edu.au/blogs/adeline/ )
The same student has a project proposal at http://cnma.anu.edu.au/blogs/andrej/?cat=183
Examples of students’ reflections are posted at http://cnma.anu.edu.au/blogs/owenL/?cat=195
and at http://cnma.anu.edu.au/blogs/tao/
Other serious blogs appear at the University of Sydney, but the university excluded student
personal blogging by a policy, which required a potential blogger to apply for blogging space.
The blog policy appears at http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/support/getblog.shtml , which among other
issues states that blogs are intended for supporting university staff research, academic work, and
for collaboration. It further advises students looking for a personal blogging space to look for
other blog providers like Blogger.com. This could have accounted for the fewer number of blogs
about personal affairs and the higher number of blogs on serious academic discourses and
reflections.
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