Blog-Based Student Lab Assignment and Assessment

Blogs and wikis are some of the new and exciting Web 2.0 technologies used in classrooms. These technologies of wikis and blogs can help the faculty for direct online learning activities that encourage peer support, collaboration, and dialogue. Well-constructed blog assignments may provide a safe environment and encourage a collaborative learning culture. This study explores the use of Web 2.0 tools in classroom and laboratory activities. In this work the authors (teachers) used blogs for lab assignments, submission and maintenance of online lab journals, and continuous assessment of students’ progress in the Visual Basic Programming Practices course (MCAL509). The purpose of this work is to make use of public social software Web 2.0 tools like Web wikis and blogs for classroom activities and for continuous internal assessment of lab assignments of this course. As part of this work, the blog was created at the blogger called http://prpatilji.blogspot.com. The blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multiuser blogs with time-stamped entries. The feedback from the students provided evidence that the blog assignments had a positive impact on in-class participation rate and laboratory environment. Key advantages identified include green assessment of student performance, ability to retrieve feedback while away from home, confirmation of receipt of assignments, more convenient storage of past assignments, and the ability to obtain a replacement copy of lost assignments.