Blogging to Learn: Participation and Literacy Among Linguistically Diverse Fifth-Grade Students

• In Event: Mapping the Multiple Composing Spaces of Young Language Learners

Abstract

Blogging has generated much interest among educators due to the avenue it provides for written interaction among students. However, it has been little investigated in K-12 schools. This study investigates linguistically diverse fifth grade students’ participation and writing development in a classroom blogging environment, based on quantitative analysis of student participation over time, writing test scores, content analysis of students’ discussion threads on blogs, and classroom observations and interviews. The study showed that English learners increase how much they blog at a faster rate than other students, and, the more English learners blog, the higher their writing test scores. Teacher intervention that encouraged students to "push their thinking" in their postings contributed to these positive outcomes.

Authors

• Binbin Zheng, University of California - Irvine

• Mark Warschauer, University of California - Irvine