Innovating with blogs in university courses : a qualitative study

Abstract

Th is study is based on an eminently socio-constructivist and investigational paradigm. By making pedagogical use of blogs in the classroom, we aimed to determine whether students appreciate the usefulness both of this new social tool and of technology in general applied to education. Based on the use of blogs in several university subjects we designed a study and a total of 136 teacher-training students of the specialization courses of Infant and Primary Education participated in it. Th e data for the study were collected using a triangulation of techniques: faceto- face discussion sessions, email messages and blog messages. Th e conclusions reveal that blogs are easy to use, they are an important resource in educational settings, they encourage students to take on an active role, and they are a useful instrument for self-evaluation.