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K.THIYAGU TNSCHE JOURNAL 2014 1 AN INVESTIGATION OF TEACHER EDUCATORS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS THE PEDAGOGICAL BENEFITS OF WEBLOG K.Thiyagu, Assistant Professor [email protected], [email protected], 9486812800, 8760910980 ABSTRACT The use of ICT in teacher education programs has been gaining interest throughout the world. This interest places pressure on faculties of education to prepare a new generation of graduates capable of integrating a variety of technological tools into their personal and professional lives (Starkman, Neal. 2007). Argued that enabling teachers to make effective use of ICT as a tool for deep learning should be top priorities for both, pre-service and in-service programs, so as to overcome the most important challenge of the teaching profession, which is the preparation of students equipped with the skills needed for 21st century careers. The explosion of technological growth with Web 2.0 applications has opened up new learning possibilities for educational programs and blogs are a promising example of these new applications (Keegan and Desmond. 2002). Weblogs are considered to be one of the best ways of combining Information Communication Technology (ICT) with teaching and learning methodologies in a classroom. The application of weblogs in higher education, particularly in teacher preparation programs, has been documented very recently. Hence, the investigator proposed the title of the study has “Teacher Educators’ Perception towards the Pedagogical Benefits of weblog in Tirunelveli District”. The main aim of the study is to assess the perception towards the pedagogical benefits of weblog among the teacher educators of Tirunelveli district. Survey method is employed for this study. The investigator has chosen 150 teacher educators as a sample for the study in a random sampling technique. Finally the investigator concludes; (a) Average level perception towards pedagogical benefits of weblog among the teacher educators. (b) There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their gender, age, subject, marital status, years of experience and educational qualification. Key words: ICT, pedagogy, weblog, web 2.0, Teacher Education, Teacher Educator.

AN INVESTIGATION OF TEACHER EDUCATORS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS THE PEDAGOGICAL BENEFITS OF WEBLOG

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The use of ICT in teacher education programs has been gaining interest throughout the world. This interest places pressure on faculties of education to prepare a new generation of graduates capable of integrating a variety of technological tools into their personal and professional lives (Starkman, Neal. 2007). Argued that enabling teachers to make effective use of ICT as a tool for deep learning should be top priorities for both, pre-service and in-service programs, so as to overcome the most important challenge of the teaching profession, which is the preparation of students equipped with the skills needed for 21st century careers. The explosion of technological growth with Web 2.0 applications has opened up new learning possibilities for educational programs and blogs are a promising example of these new applications (Keegan and Desmond. 2002). Weblogs are considered to be one of the best ways of combining Information Communication Technology (ICT) with teaching and learning methodologies in a classroom. The application of weblogs in higher education, particularly in teacher preparation programs, has been documented very recently. Hence, the investigator proposed the title of the study has “Teacher Educators’ Perception towards the Pedagogical Benefits of weblog in Tirunelveli District”. The main aim of the study is to assess the perception towards the pedagogical benefits of weblog among the teacher educators of Tirunelveli district. Survey method is employed for this study. The investigator has chosen 150 teacher educators as a sample for the study in a random sampling technique. Finally the investigator concludes; (a) Average level perception towards pedagogical benefits of weblog among the teacher educators. (b) There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their gender, age, subject, marital status, years of experience and educational qualification.

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Page 1: AN INVESTIGATION OF TEACHER EDUCATORS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS THE PEDAGOGICAL BENEFITS OF WEBLOG

K.THIYAGU TNSCHE JOURNAL 2014

1

AN INVESTIGATION OF TEACHER EDUCATORS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS

THE PEDAGOGICAL BENEFITS OF WEBLOG

K.Thiyagu,

Assistant Professor

[email protected], [email protected],

9486812800, 8760910980

ABSTRACT

The use of ICT in teacher education programs has been gaining interest

throughout the world. This interest places pressure on faculties of education to prepare a

new generation of graduates capable of integrating a variety of technological tools into

their personal and professional lives (Starkman, Neal. 2007). Argued that enabling

teachers to make effective use of ICT as a tool for deep learning should be top priorities

for both, pre-service and in-service programs, so as to overcome the most important

challenge of the teaching profession, which is the preparation of students equipped with

the skills needed for 21st century careers. The explosion of technological growth with Web

2.0 applications has opened up new learning possibilities for educational programs and

blogs are a promising example of these new applications (Keegan and Desmond. 2002).

Weblogs are considered to be one of the best ways of combining Information

Communication Technology (ICT) with teaching and learning methodologies in a

classroom. The application of weblogs in higher education, particularly in teacher

preparation programs, has been documented very recently. Hence, the investigator

proposed the title of the study has “Teacher Educators’ Perception towards the

Pedagogical Benefits of weblog in Tirunelveli District”. The main aim of the study is to

assess the perception towards the pedagogical benefits of weblog among the teacher

educators of Tirunelveli district. Survey method is employed for this study. The

investigator has chosen 150 teacher educators as a sample for the study in a random

sampling technique. Finally the investigator concludes; (a) Average level perception

towards pedagogical benefits of weblog among the teacher educators. (b) There is no

significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’ perception towards

pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their gender, age, subject, marital status,

years of experience and educational qualification.

Key words: ICT, pedagogy, weblog, web 2.0, Teacher Education, Teacher Educator.

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INTRODUCTION

The term blog is a contraction of "web log", which suggests that blogs were

initially conceived as online log books where the author could put their log entries, and if

they wish publish them. Blogs, like log books, are cumulative and each new entry is

appended to the previous ones (usually with the newest ones at the top). They also offer a

variety of features not found in log books. Entries can be "tagged" with appropriate key

words (or phrases) so that related items can easily be brought together (Lam, Paul, Mc

Naught and Carmel 2007). With many blog systems, the publication of individual entries

can be controlled to private, to friends / colleagues only or to the public. Most blogs also

allow the reader to post comments, and these may require moderation before they become

public (the decision being left to the owner of the blog). Blogs can be published using

"RSS" which allows readers to easily see when new postings have been made, so that they

do not have to go to each blog that they are interested in, but can see them all in a single

news reader or aggregator.

A blog is an ‘easy to use website’ where you can quickly post information and

have other people comment on that information. Weblogs provide teachers and Scholars

with the opportunity to communicate and collaborate in new and exciting ways. A blog

(short for weblog) is an interactive web page where individuals can post entries, articles,

links, and pictures, and ask others to join into conversations (Littlejohn, Allison., et al.

2009). For educators, they are a way to expand the boundaries of learning. Teachers can

post entries for Scholars, parents, and for professional development purposes. Scholars

can engage with others in their community or around the world. Work can be published to

an authentic audience. Blogs are easily adaptive into most curriculum areas. They are

relatively simple to use, can be accessed by anyone, anywhere with an Internet connection,

and content can be published online in a matter of minutes (Morice, Jenny 2002).

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

Investigation: The investigation is the process of inquiring into or following up;

research; study; inquiry, or thorough inquiry or examination;

Perception: Perception presents individual feeling or against something. In other

words the degree of feeling of favourableness or unfavourableness towards some objects,

events, person, groups, and ideas is called perception.

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Pedagogical Benefits: Pedagogy is the study on process of teaching. The term

generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction. Pedagogy is also

occasionally referred to as the correct use of instructive strategies. The investigator defines

that in teaching and learning process how weblog and weblogs are used and how to

integrate weblog during the teaching and learning process.

Weblogs: A weblog, sometimes written as web log or Weblog is a Web site that

consists of a series of entries arranged in reverse chronological order, often or periodically

updated with new information about particular topics. The information can be written by

the site owner, gleaned from other Web sites or other sources, or contributed by users.

Teacher Educators’: Those who are teaching primary and secondary teacher

education institutions are called as Teacher educators’

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To discover the level of Teacher Educators’ Perception of Pedagogical Benefits of

Weblog’s

To find out the year of experiences in internet usage among the Teacher Educators.

To find out the frequency of the Teacher Educators’ experience with internet.

To find out the year of experiences in weblog usage among the Teacher Educators.

To find out the frequency of the Teacher Educators’ experience with weblog.

To find out whether there is any significant difference in the mean scores of

teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with

respect to their gender, age, subject, marital status, year of experience and

educational qualification

HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY

The hypotheses of the present study a formulated as follows:

1. There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their

gender.

2. There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their age.

3. There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their

subject of specialisation.

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4. There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their

marital status.

5. There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their year

of experience.

6. There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their

educational qualification.

METHOD ADOPTED IN THE PRESENT STUDY

In the present study, the investigator has employed the ‘survey method’. Survey

method is a method for collecting and analyzing data, obtained from large number of

respondents representing a specific population collected through highly structured and

detailed questionnaire or other techniques (Best, J.W., 1983).

POPULATION AND SAMPLE OF THE STUDY

In this study, all the teacher educators working in college of education at various

colleges irrespective of the nature of management and other criteria but located in

Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu have been taken as the population for the study. A good

sample must be representative of the entire population for this study. Thus data have been

collected from 150 Teacher Educators using random sampling technique.

INSTRUMENT

As there is no suitable tool available for the present study, the investigator has

constructed and validated a scale to measure perception teacher educators towards

pedagogical benefits of weblogs. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the

investigators used a self-prepared questionnaire (PPBW = Perception towards

pedagogical benefits of weblog). The investigator referred to various books and journals to

have clarity of concept and in addition to their information’s he consulted some subject

experts about the content for the development of the tool. The pedagogical benefit of

weblog’s perception tool prepared by the investigator was used for the present study. The

tool was prepared by the three point scale.

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STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES USED

Statistical techniques serve the fundamental purpose of the description and

inferential analysis (Aggarwal, Y.R, 1986). The following statistical techniques were used

in the study:

Mean (M) and standard deviations (SD)

Percentage analysis

‘t’ test for determining the significance of difference between means of two

sub-groups.

DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

The investigator personally visited the B.Ed., colleges with the permission of the

concerned head of the Institutions. The investigator prepared a letter mentioning the

purpose of the research and the institution under which the research is being carried out.

The aim of the questionnaire that has been given is to know the level of perception

towards pedagogical benefits of weblog among the teacher educators. The items in the

tool arranged in to form of a rating scale and the respondents are expected to circle or tick

their level of confidence along a scale of 1-3 for each of the weblog categorization

questionnaire. The scores were then tabulated for statistical analysis. The scores obtained

through the questionnaires along with the personal data are consolidated and tabulated on

consolidation sheet for the purpose of analysis. The data thus collected and analysed are

presented in 12 tables (1-12). Brief interpretation of table content is given after each table,

for convenience.

Table No.1

Analysis of the Sample in terms of the Length of

Experience with the Internet

Length of experience with

Internet No. of Teacher Educators %

Below 1 year 37 24.7

1-2 years 31 20.7

2-4 years 37 24.7

4-6 years 29 19.2

6 year & above 16 10.7

Table 1 presents the analysis of sample in terms of the length of experience with

Internet. As seen, 37 Teacher Educators (24.7%) have less than one year experience with

the Internet, 31 Teacher Educators (20.7%) have 1 to 2 years of experience with the

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Internet, 37 Teacher Educators (24.7%) have 2 to 4 years of experience with the Internet;

29 Teacher Educators (19.2%) have 4 to 6 years of experience with the Internet and 16

Teacher Educators (10.7%) has 6 years and above experience with Internet.

Table No.2

Analysis of the Sample in terms of the Frequency of the Internet Use

Frequency of

Internet use No. of Teacher Educators %

Daily 45 30.0

on alternate days 44 29.3

Once in a week 22 14.7

Once in a fortnight or so 5 3.3

Once in a month or so 27 18.0

Never 7 4.7

Table 2 provides the analysis of sample in terms of the frequency of internet use.

45 Teacher educators (30.0%) use the internet every day, 44 (29.3%) use it on alternate

days, 22 (14.7%) use once in a week, 5 (3.3%) use roughly once in a fortnight, 27

(18.0%) use once in a month and only 7 (4.7%) teacher educators use no internet at all.

Table No. 3

Analysis of the Sample in terms of the Profile on weblog

Weblog Profile No. of Teacher Educators %

Yes 40 26.7

No 110 73.3

Table 3 shows the analysis of sample in terms of the profile on weblog. It is seen

40 teacher educators (26.7%) have a profile on weblog, while 110 (73.3%) do not have

any.

Table No. 4

Analysis of the Sample in terms of Reason for neglecting weblog profile

Reason No. of Teacher

Educators %

I have not time for them 44 40.0

I don’t want your personal details published online 41 37.27

I don’t want to have an online presence 31 28.18

I consider them to be a waste of time 22 20.0

I don’t know about web 2.0 tools 26 23.63

I have technology phobia 14 12.72

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Table 4 reveals the result of analysis for the reasons for neglecting web 2.0 profiles

like blog and weblog. Out of 150 respondents only 40 are having a profile on weblog.

Remaining 110 have no profile on weblog. They neglect the weblog for the following

reasons: 44 (40%) have not enough time for using web 2.0 tools; 41(37.3%) don’t like to

share their personal details published online; 31(28.2%) don’t like to be online; 22 (20%)

consider web 2.0 tools to be a waste of time; 26 (23.6%) don’t know about web 2.0 tools

and 14 (12.7%) expressed a technology phobia.

The second part of the questionnaire of the survey was “Perception on the

pedagogical benefits of weblog”. The purpose of this item was to determine which Web

2.0 application is widely familiar with teacher educators. This could help to find the most

implicitly used tool(s) by them. The respondents were able to select multiple answers.

Table 5 depicts the analytical results on this.

Table No. 5

Analysis of the Sample in terms of pedagogical benefits of weblog

NO STATEMENTS AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

F % F % F %

B1 Blogging can be useful in acquiring

various kinds of knowledge and

information. 128 85.3 21 14.0 1 0.7

B2 Blog is a powerful tools to enable

scaffold learning 99 66.0 48 32.0 3 2.0

B3 Blog is an effective forums for

collaboration & discussion 106 70.7 29 19.3 15 10.0

B4 Blog is an excellent opportunities for

students to read and write. 119 79.3 26 17.3 5 3.3

B5 Blog can promote critical and

analytical thinking 101 67.3 39 26.0 10 6.7

B6 Blogs being used as brainstorming

tool 99 66.0 41 27.3 10 6.7

B7 Blogging can help me realize the

importance of it as a collective activity

in a community. 114 76.0 29 19.3 7 4.7

B8 Using a blog makes learning

independent of time and place 103 68.7 36 24.0 11 7.3

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B9 Blog fosters the learning bonds

between teachers and students 100 66.7 42 28.0 8 5.3

B10 Blogging helps teachers develop

professionally 101 67.3 42 28.0 7 4.7

B11 Blog fosters the development of

writing and research skills as well as

digital skills. 97 64.7 41 27.3 12 8.0

B12 It gives a chance to shy students to

participate with their peers and get

their voice heard. 94 62.7 51 34.0 5 3.3

B13 Blogging makes the students into

subject matter experts 92 61.3 35 23.3 23 15.3

B14 Blogging can make me communicate

with the world and can influence every

area of my life. 75 50.0 65 43.3 10 6.7

B15 Blogging can help me develop my

own expertise in some areas. 102 68.0 35 23.3 13 8.7

B16 Blogging can help me engage more

actively in my fields of interests. 78 52.0 65 43.3 7 4.7

B17 Blogging can provide me

opportunities to grow by looking back

on my own thoughts &views. 107 71.3 35 23.3 8 5.3

B18 Blogging can be useful to describe

and/or express my thoughts and views. 80 53.3 54 36.0 16 10.7

B19 Blogging can help me gain new

awareness and set up plans on the

basis of it. 96 64.0 46 30.7 8 5.3

B20 Blogging can be useful to build up

some social networks around me. 82 54.7 58 38.7 10 6.7

Table 5 gives the analysis of opinion of respondents on the perception towards the

pedagogical benefits of weblog. Most of them are having a positive opinion about each

statement of the pedagogical benefits of weblog, given in the questionnaire. It means that

most of the teacher educators maintain a positive perception on the pedagogical benefits of

weblog.

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Objective Testing

Find out the level of perception towards the pedagogical benefits of weblog among

the teacher educators

TABLE – 6

Level of perception towards the pedagogical benefits of weblog

among teacher educators

Variable Low Medium High

No % No % No %

perception towards

the pedagogical

benefits of weblog

8 5.3 54 36 88 58.7

Out of 150 samples only 88 (58.7%) samples are having a high level: 54 (36%)

sample are having moderate level and remaining 8 (5.3%) of samples are having a low

level of perception towards the pedagogical benefits of weblog.

Hypotheses Testing

Null Hypothesis: 1

There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their gender.

Table No. 7

Difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical

benefits of weblog with respect to their gender.

Web 2.0 Gender N Mean Std df ‘t’

value

Remarks

at 5%

level

Weblog

Male 53 5 0 . 7 9 7 . 4 4

148 1.51 NS

Female 97 5 2 . 4 9 6 . 0 9

(At 5% level of significance, the table value of ‘t’ is 1.97)

Table 7 shows that the computed ‘t’ value 1.51 is less than the table value 1.97 at

0.05 level and hence it is not significant. Consequently, the null hypothesis is to be

accepted. And it can be said that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of

teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to

their gender.

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Null Hypothesis: 2

There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their age.

Table No. 8

Difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical

benefits of Weblog with respect to their age.

Web 2.0 Age N Mean Std df ‘t’

value

Remarks

at 5%

level

Weblog

Below 35 99 5 1 . 4 1 6 . 1 4

148 1.23 NS

Above 35 51 5 2 . 8 2 7 . 4 4

(At 5% level of significance, the table value of ‘t’ is 1.97)

Table 8 shows that the computed ‘t’ value 1.23 is less than the table value 1.97 at

0.05 level and hence it is not significant. Consequently, the null hypothesis is to be

accepted. And it can be said that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of

teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to

their age.

Null Hypothesis: 3

There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their basic subject.

Table No. 9

Difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical

benefits of Weblog with respect to their subject of specialisation

Web 2.0 Basic

Subject N Mean Std df

‘t’

value

Remarks

at 5%

level

Weblog

Arts 61 5 1 . 1 5 7 . 2 7

148 1.14 NS

science 89 5 2 . 4 0 6 . 1 4

(At 5% level of significance, the table value of ‘t’ is 1.97)

Table 9 shows that the computed ‘t’ value 1.14 is less than the table value 1.97 at

0.05 level and hence it is not significant. Consequently, the null hypothesis is to be

accepted. And it can be said that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of

teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to

their basic subject.

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Null Hypothesis: 4

There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their marital status.

Table No. 10

Difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical

benefits of Weblog with respect to their marital status.

Web 2.0 Marital

Status N Mean Std Df

‘t’

value

Remarks

at 5%

level

Weblog

Married 89 5 2 . 5 3 6 . 7 7

148 1.42 NS

Unmarried 61 5 0 . 9 7 6 . 3 5

(At 5% level of significance, the table value of ‘t’ is 1.97)

Table 10 shows that the computed ‘t’ value 1.42 is less than the table value 1.97 at

0.05 level and hence it is not significant. Consequently, the null hypothesis is to be

accepted. And it can be said that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of

teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to

their marital status.

Null Hypothesis: 5

There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their year of

experience.

Table No. 11

Difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical

benefits of weblog with respect to their year of experience.

Web 2.0 Year of

Experience N Mean Std Df

‘t’

value

Remarks

at 5%

level

Weblog

Below 5 97 5 1 . 8 7 6 . 0 7

148 0.06 NS Above 5 53 5 1 . 9 4 7 . 6 1

(At 5% level of significance, the table value of ‘t’ is 1.97)

Table 9 shows that the computed ‘t’ value 0.06 is less than the table value 1.97 at

0.05 level and hence it is not significant. Consequently, the null hypothesis is to be

accepted. And it can be said that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of

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teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to

their year of experience.

Null Hypothesis: 6

There is no significant difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’

perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to their educational

qualification.

Table No. 12

Difference in the mean scores of teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical

benefits of weblog with respect to their educational qualification.

Web 2.0 Educational

Qualification N Mean Std Df

‘t’

value

Remarks

at 5%

level

Weblog

Without NET/PH.D 113 5 1 . 7 5 6 . 1 3

148 0.45 NS

WITH NET / Ph.D., 37 5 2 . 3 2 8 . 0 4

(At 5% level of significance, the table value of ‘t’ is 1.97)

Table 12 shows that the computed ‘t’ value 0.45 is less than the table value 1.97 at

0.05 level and hence it is not significant. Consequently, the null hypothesis is to be

accepted. And it can be said that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of

teacher educators’ perception towards pedagogical Benefits of Weblog with respect to

their educational qualification.

DISCUSSION

The results of ‘t’ test point to the following findings in respect of different contributors

tested for their role:

Gender

The ‘t’ test result shows that, there is no significant difference in the mean scores

of perceptions towards pedagogical benefits of blog and weblog among the teacher

educators with respect to their Gender. This may be due their curiosity to know the

innovative and new things and their environments and also their keen watch about the

update & day-to-day information of new fashion of all the male and female teacher

educators.

Age

The ‘t’ test revels that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of

perceptions towards pedagogical benefits of blog and weblog among the teacher educators

with respect to their age. This may be due to the fact, that today all pupils have proper

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education in all aspects. Particularly in Tamilnadu all people were well educated and they

are aware of the importance of technological world. All the age group teacher educators

are updating their potential and eager to get the knowledge from the electronic devices.

Subject Stream

The ‘t’ test result shows that, there is no significant difference between arts and science

teacher educators in their perception towards the pedagogical benefits of weblog. This can

be attributed to the universality of technology in its applications. Both arts and science

teachers got some exposure of using computers in their school days and likely

enhancement of awareness on technological instruments. They have equal opportunity to

interact with the society through technology and develop further interest.

Marital Status

The ‘t’ test result shows that, there is no significant difference between married and

unmarried teacher educators in their perception towards the pedagogical benefits of blog

and weblog. This may be due the fact that, marital status does not affect the eagerness and

curiosity of the teachers to know about the advanced technological devices.

Year of Experience and Educational Qualification

The ‘t’ test revels that there is no significant difference between M.Ed., only

qualification and NET or Ph.D. qualification teacher educators in their perceptions

towards pedagogical benefits of weblog. Similarly the result is coinciding in the year of

experience also. It may be due the fact, that in higher education level, all the teachers are

using the computer and internet for various purposes without age norms and educational

qualification. All the teacher educators visit the website of Tamil Nadu teachers’

education university for updating useful announcements and information on educational

matters.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

This study examined teacher educator’s perceptions of pedagogical benefits of

weblog; there was no examination of factors in place to support teacher educators’

integration of technology into their courses. For example, did teacher educators participate

in any technology-based professional development; do colleges provide technological

support for open source applications, of which many Web 2.0 applications are; is the use

of Web 2.0 applications encouraged by superiors, mentors, or students? As a result, it

would be beneficial to further study factors in place to support the integration of

technology into courses, as well as the effectiveness of these support factors. Another

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interesting future research idea would be to apply the same decomposed theory of planned

behavior to understand and predict student's intentions and behavior to use Web 2.0

technologies to supplement their in-class learning. After an analysis of the student data, it

could then be compared with faculty expectations from Web 2.0 use in an attempt to

understand whether there is a gap in understanding among the teacher educators and the

faculty and whether or not the same factors influence student and faculty use. For similar

further studies can be conducted in professional college teacher educators, like teaching

profession and engineering profession etc. The present study is limited to Educational

District of Tirunelveli only. This can be conducted within a wider geographical area. This

study may be extended to a large sample taking some more variables. Owing to the

constraint of time and money only few variables and few colleges could be included for

this study.

CONCLUSIONS

In future research of weblog use, we encourage collecting data and tracking

individuals’ contributions so that research might correlate individuals’ frequency and

type(s) of weblog activity with individuals’ perceptions of the weblog’s role in supporting

collaboration and learning (Rachna Rathore 2009). In that way, the research might identify

specific profiles of use that lead to greater gains in learning. Teaching methodology will

shift from teacher-centered education to learner-centered education. Teacher’s dominance

will be replaced by the knowledge dominance (Aharony, 2011). So students now learn

through computer teacher, television teacher and internet teacher. In future, another

teacher who applies these technologies in the classrooms will replace a teacher who does

not apply these technologies. The investigation end its findings will help educational

experts, thinkers, teachers and all those who are interested in the field of education to

focus their attention on the present problems. This findings and results are not the end of

the problem, but just a beginning of the search for innovation. By applying these results,

the quality of teaching learning process will improve.

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