Empirically Examining the Effectiveness of Teaching Blogs on University Course Instruction

Abstract

Blogs have the potential to be integrated as learning tools to help students learn and reflect. Many educators have incorporated the use of teaching blogs to enhance teaching and learning outcomes in higher education settings. However, research conducted to empirically examine the effectiveness of blog use in education is rare. This study intends to help fill the remaining gaps in the research; there are two main purposes: (1) to examine, using a field quasi-experiment, whether the use of teaching blogs in university course instruction enhances student learning outcomes; and (2) to empirically understand the determinants and impacts of the extent of student blog use on university’s course learning via a questionnaire analysis. Two separate studies were conducted. The experimental results of Study 1 show that using teaching blogs not only enhances learner satisfaction, but also increases university students’ learning achievement. The Study 2 results show that higher quality teaching blogs positively influence the extent of student blog use, which in turn positively influences student learning satisfaction and achievement. This study extends our knowledge and insights regarding the use of teaching blogs within the higher education domain.