The effectiveness of using edublogs as an instructional and motivating tool in the context of higher education

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this research is to study the impact of blogs on improving self-reported motivation and learning in a higher education context. A quasi-experimental study was carried out in a social science core unit of the Primary Education degree at the University of Murcia, Spain. The study involved two groups of student teachers, with a total of 101 participants, who created their own blogs as a framework for exchanging their views and sharing their ideas on a variety of contemporary issues related to social science teaching. Data were collected through pre- and post-tests to measure whether the expected changes had occurred as a result of using this digital information platform. The results indicate that the use of blogs helped students to develop their digital literacy, to enhance their social and civic skills, and increase their self-perceived motivation. It is therefore worth updating the current communication processes with regard to online learning with a view to promoting digital access to information and fostering a meaningful learning network through these web resources.