Case Study

Case study title	Blogs: promoting competence in undergraduate occupational therapy students
Institution name	Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Author of case study	Augustine De la Crouse
1.       Background	I am a qualified Dental Technician in the Department of Dental Sciences at CPUT. I started using the blog with the second, third and fourth year students and did have difficulty getting everyone to interact with the posts on the blog. I had the best interaction with the forth year students, while the second year students were sceptical of the benefit to them by using or posting on the blog. This Year: My class group range from 32 (largest) to 15 (smallest) students in a class. The larger of the class groups are out First year students. This is more difficult to create an exercise for them as they know nothing of the theory or practical. I find that they would not necessarily be able to engage or interact with the activities as I would hope necessarily hope for. A way to overcome this could be to create an activity that would only require them to identify and not explain as yet and try to develop the explaining (reflecting) exercise. For the present Second year group of 21 students, I have used my blog on which I initially posted questions and asked them to answer. This worked fine unless there was a student who happens to answer the entire question and defeats the entire purpose of the exercise, which is to allow other students to interact/engage with the question or comments. I have also found that students are more willing to interact if they are not the first person that has to post information. In order for them to overcome this fear, I post pictures of my own cases fabricated during class or that of previous students. I then ask them to identify errors or characteristics that they would change. I have found that this makes them feel a little better about themselves publicly through their work. We do have a diverse group of students in our classes and some struggle with the use of technology.
2.       Intended outcome(s)	I would like student reflection on their practical work to increase. To increase student engagement with their practical cases completed in class. Include feedback from the profession (practising dental technicians and laboratory owners) regarding the work the students are doing. I would want this to be a platform where they can express their views on cases posted on the blog as a means of peer review and formative assessment. This could also serve as a platform on which students can showcase their work to future employers. Use the blog as a tool for blended learning
3.       The challenge	I think my major challenge would be to get the students to interact via the Blog. The most difficult thing would be to get students to say how they feel about something in this public forum about how I do things, but I am confident that they will overcome this as we go along. There is also the issue about time spent in front of the computer/phone/tablet and the personal expense as this will be when I am at home with no WiFi. I am also stuck deciding whether to make this an open forum or to close it up to a selected group of people. There is also the issue of students that would completely answer a question and leave no room for other students to post their views.
4.       Established practice	I used to post questions on the blog that would be useful to students for compiling notes or supplement what was covered in class. I would also provide general feedback on practical cases done in class, e.g. common mistakes and things to take not of when completing a particular case. Refer to reference material that I found useful to compile or complete notes.
5.       Impact / affordances of emerging technologies	For me I feel that the blog affords the following affordances: ·         Media affordance - were students are able to find and read information as well as comment on the information provided ·         Space affordance - the blog offers adequate space for the planned exercises, posting of photos and videos ·         Accessibility affordance - students can access the blog from anywhere and from their mobile devices and smart phones ·         Navigation affordance - the blog is easy to navigate and it is easy to find information ·         Synthesis affordance - I am able to post videos from Youtube and some that students have made as well as photographs of their class work. ·         Usability - the blog is user friendly ·         Aesthetics - I am able to change the view of the blog at any point, to suit the needs of the student users ·         Access control - The blog offers me the choice to make it an open or closed media, I think that I would like to create an interest first from all the interested parties as well as create a following and then decide if I should close it off to a particular group or leave it open. ·         Collaboration - With the blog I am able to collaborate with a variety of groups, students, dental professionals and suppliers
6.       Description of intervention	I post pictures of cases completed in class on the blog in order for the students to give comments on corrections that could be made, as well as point out what they like about each of the cases posted. I have also asked students to produce their own demo videos of work we are busy with in the class, calling it 'a demo from a student's perspective'. I feel that this makes them feel part of the teaching and learning process. I also post one of my own 'non professional' demos, to show them it does not need much to produce; just a few strategically chosen photographs or a short video clip, to make their own demo using their own work, irrespective of what it looks like as an end product. This has worked well and have received positive feedback from students.
7.       Key points for effective practice	1.       I think it will be key for me to create an interest from the students to interact with the blog on a regular basis, also to allow senior students to assist with peer reviewing the students practical cases. 2.       I also need to find a cluster of dental technicians in my specific field of training who would be willing to interact and assist with reviewing students cases via the blog.
1.       Conclusion and recommendations	Conclusion: I think making the students feel that they are part of the training process and the amount of feedback that the blog affords them from so many people from the different levels, e.g. fellow students in the same level and from higher levels, also from the practising professionals. Recommendations: I will look into the matter of keeping the blog as an open forum or to close it up to students and certain practising professionals
1.       Additional information	I have been using the blog with a level of success and I have also found that there is a greater level of interest from students to use this media and to start their own blogs as a portfolio for when they have to find a job. As our students do not get to keep their practical cases the blog helps them document their work done and their progress over the 4 years that they are studying. They also document interesting cases they come into contact with in laboratories via the class blog and start discussions with regards to how to complete the case and what materials were used. I find the blog to be visually appealing as well as user friendly, as no additional or technical skills are required by the students or the dental professionals.

References:

Bower M, (2008). Affordance analysis - matching learning tasks with learning technologies. Educational Media International, 45, (1): 3 - 15

Dabbagh N, Bannan-Ritland B (2005). Instructional strategies that support constructivist-based pedagogical models. Adapted for ICT CHEC course, May 2005, pp. 206-227.

Deng L, Yuen A (2011). Towards a framework for educational affordances of blogs. Computers & Education, 56, 441-451.

Hollis V, Madill H (2006). Online learning: the potential for occupational therapy education. Occupational Therapy International, 13(2): 61-78.

Robertson J (2011). The educational affordances of blogs for self-directed learning. Computers & Education, 57: 1628-1644.