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Using Blogs and Wikis in the 21st
Century Classroom: A Study in
Evaluation
Tim Stafford, MS MA
Director of Digital Media Center & Sr. Instructional Designer
Virtualis Media Group - Zellwood, Florida

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Introduction:
Goals of this Session
 Analyze some key elements of adult learning:
 Evaluate some technological implications for Bloom’s
Taxonomy
 Analyze the role of rubrics in subjective learning landscapes
 Evaluate the power of wiki’s and blogs to become assessment
vehicles, especially in terms of connectivist learning theory.
 Questions and answers

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Key Elements of Adult Learning
 McClusky’s Theory of Margin
 Illeris’s Three Dimensional Learning Model
 Jarvis’s Learning Process
 Brookfield’s Reflective Teaching Model

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McClusky’s Theory of Margin
(Merriam et al. 2007)
 The adult learner seeks to strike a balance (L:P) between:
 The Load of Life (L) which acts like an independent variable
 The Power of Life (P) which is the power to manage L
 Impact: Education becomes a load that can become dispensable if it
becomes overwhelming to the power to perform.

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Illeris’ Three Dimensional Learning
Model (Merriam et al. 2007)
 The adult seeks to strike a balance
(C:E:S) between:
 Cognition – The ability to
understand
 Emotion – The ability to maintain
balance with personal issues
 Social – The ability to ping ideas
against cultural norms and
more’s and reconcile them.
 Impact 1: Adults need to
understand the Why of
learning
 Impact 2: Adults need to
understand How it will impact
their world

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Jarvis’s Learning Process
(Merriam et al. 2007)
 A simple world view structure –
connected beliefs about:
 Politics
 Education
 Economics
 Religion
 Social Issues
©2011 The Nehemiah Institute
Used with permission

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Conclusion: Considering Reflective
Teaching (Brookfield, 1995)
 4 Critical Lenses of Reflective
Teaching
 The lens of autobiography –
What has been my experience?
 The lens of the student – Who
am I in the process?
 The lens of experience in
relation to colleagues – How are
others affecting me with what they
know?
 The lens of theoretical literature
Brookfield’s Reflective Teaching Model – What do I know and where are
there gaps in my knowledge?
Where are there biases and
assumptions in my knowledge?

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SO WHAT?!!?
Practical Application through
Theory
Blogs and Wikis
 B/W allow student access to an
 McClusky’s Theory of Margin evaluation platform that they an engage
from any where at anytime – increasing
power.
 Illeris’ Three Dimensional
Learning Model  B/W engage students cognitively, socially
which helps them emotionally better
understand the process of evaluation –
 Jarvis’ Learning Process feedback is the key
 Brookfield’s Reflective Teaching  B/W allow students to engage issues
from their worldview and gain strength
Model from the diversity of others through the
evaluative process
 B/W Allow all of the lenses of reflective
teaching to exist within the assessment
framework – This is a key element of
transformative learning (Meizrow, 1997)

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Bloom’s Taxonomy and
Rubric Creation
 Traditional Bloom’s Taxonomy
 An updated version that tackles technological considerations
 Creating Rubrics

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Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

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Expanded Bloom’s Taxonomy

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Blogs/Wikis Use Levels 4 AND 5

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Creating Rubrics
 Short Film on Rubrics
 Rubrics allow the instructor to give the learner the information
he/she needs to control the course of their evaluative process.
 Rubrics allow for flexible grading when taking other issues into
consideration
 Rubrics offer a standardization that can help address individual
learner needs by allowing them to interact with the tools and
process so as to customize their experience and allow them to
set their own goals
 Rubistar offers a great help for instructors and Rubric design

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SO WHAT?!!?
Practical Application through
Theory
Blogs and Wikis
 Bloom’s Taxonomy  Bloom’s confirms that B/W hold
the possibility of synthesis or
 Connectivism create-level learning.
 Rubrics allow us to standardize
 Migrating to Rubrics for Lerner- assessment structures in
centered Curriculum Evaluation subjective learning environemnts
like B/W.
 With e-learning and m-learning
well established, a merger toward
ubiquitous learning (u-learning) is
a new horizon based on the
power of social media and B/W
can be easily employed in these
constructs

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Kirkpatrick’ s 4 Levels of Evaluation
(1994)
 Reaction - how the learners react to the learning process
 “Was the learning worth my time?”
 Learning - the extent to which the learners gain knowledge and
skills
 What knowledge was acquired?
 What skills were developed or enhanced?
 What attitudes were changed?
 Behavior - capability to perform the learned skills while on the job
 “Do people use their newly acquired learning on the job?”
 Results - includes such items as ROI, efficiency, morale, etc.

16. + Understanding the
Theory of Connectivism (Siemens, 2006)
 Connectivism holds that people are connected through
learning, and that a structure can be built on these connections.
 A node
 A network
 A community
 Virtually any element that we can scrutinize or experience can
become node. Thoughts, feelings, interactions with others, and
new data and information can be seen as nodes.
 The aggregation of these nodes results in a network. Networks
can combine to form still larger networks (each node in a larger
network can be a network of nodes itself).
 A community, for example is a rich learning network of individuals
who in themselves are completed learning networks.

17. + Key Terms in the Theory of Connectivism
 Amplification: The connection of  Enacting new domains of
one concept or skill set with knowledge:. We all possess
another complementary concept some levels of knowledge. When
or skill set that produces a that knowledge is connected with
greater impact than each element the knowledge of other
could produce on its own. people, we are able to access
more complex domains of
 Resonance: Resonance is knowledge
capacity for connections to form
based on the attributes of  Connected specialization: In
connect-able nodes. Nodes that complex systems, individual
are too unlike each other will not agents/nodes become
form a meaningful connection. increasingly specialized.
Connections have an impact –
 Synchronization: Nodes/concep but we don’t want random
ts aligning themselves to other connections for connections
agents/concepts (fireflies is a sake. We need connections that
common example). increase the capacity of a
network of individuals to create
and grow knowledge.

18. + Eight Principles of Networked Learning
(Siemens, 2006)

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SO WHAT?!!?
Element of Theory of Practical Application through
Connectivism Blogs and Wikis
 Connectivism  Connectivism harnesses the
power to combine the strengths
of the learner with the rich
 Network Learning Theory networking of social media to
create new learning spheres.
 Ubiquitous Learning (u-
learning: a combination of e-  NLT give principles by which the
complete diversity found in the
learning and m-learning) (Sung, connectivist theory has the
2009) promise to empower.
 U-learning gives instructors the
ability to facilitate and coach
learners towards areas of
advancement that intrinsically
motivate them. B/W can give
each learner a voice in the
process and in the ultimate
deliverable.

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Understanding the Future
Learner (Marx, 2006)
 Technology will increase the speed of communication and the
pace of advancement or decline.
 Release of human ingenuity will become a primary
responsibility of education and society.
 Social and intellectual capital will become economic
drivers, intensifying competition for well-educated people.
 Greater numbers of people will seek personal meaning in their
lives in response to an intense, high-tech, always on, fast-
moving society.

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References
 Brookfield, S. D. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. Sab Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.
 Marx, G. (2006). Sixteen trends, their profound impact on our future: Implications for
students, education, communities, countries, and the whole of society. Alexandria, VA: Gary Marx and Educational
Research Service.
 Mayer, R. E., & Clark, R. C. (2010). Instructional strategies for receptive learning environments. In K. H. Silber & W.
R. Foshay (Eds.), Handbook of improving performance in the workplace (Vol. 1, pp. 298-328). San Francisco:
Pfeiffer, An Imprint of Wiley.
 Meizrow, J. (1997). Transformation theory of adult learning. In P. Cranton (Ed.), In defense of the lifeworld (pp. 39-
70). State University of New York Press.
 Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, R. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide
(Third ed.). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
 Siemens, G. (2005, November 5). Connectivism: Learning as network-creation [Weblog post]. Retrieved from
http://www.astd.org/LC/2005/1105_seimens.htm
 Sung, J.-S. (2009, December). U-learning model design based on ubiquitous environment. International Journal of
Science and Technology, 13, 77-88. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database.

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Contact information
 Tim Stafford, MS, MA
 E-mail –
t.stafford@virtualismediagroup.com
 Phone – 407 703 1319
 Website
 VMG – www.virtualismediagroup.com
 Internet Radio – Stating in
September, 2011 –
www.blogtalkradio,com/vmg
 Twitter - @tmstaffordllc