e-Journaling

As this article describes e-Journaling, it seems more like email between the study participants and researchers to get general feedback on the participants frustrations and successes with the study. While this was a rather ingenious way for the researchers to receive feedback, a major drawback is that students were not able to look at each others correspondence. The most learner-centered and time-efficient way that I could envision working this process in an ESL setting is through blogging. Blogging has several advantages—respondents can leave immediate feedback, students can look at each others blogs and see what types of issues/successes they have been having, and it is an easy way for instructors to gather student work in a clean fashion (easy-to-read layout and no pen and paper mess). Blogging has few disadvantages, but there is a learning curve associated with learning how to use the technology. Blogging on one topic could lead students to find and create content for a larger assignment, like a final paper or ideas for a larger final project. Could this be used as a way of “e-brainstorming”? Also, blogs can be a way for students to “create” something that they can share with friends and family both here and abroad to showcase what they have been doing!