Private Edublogs offer a safe space for learners to cultivate personal voice and bolster self-confidence. Learners who prefer a private space to a more public one are typically more self-critical, apprehensive of peer feedback, and view self-disclosure to others too painful.
“Incubator”
Within such a protected learning space, often within a walled garden of a LMS, an incubator promotes the development of reflective narratives, dreams, intuitions, and emotional responses. Learners explore critical incidents, and engage in a continuing self-dialogue that involves critical self-reflection. The main goal is nurturing the learner, fostering learner self-efficacy, and encouraging in learners the perspective of blogging to learn. Learners can send individual posts to instructor by email, although others can be invited by learner to observe and comment.
The metaphor of the “Launch Pad” concerns content that learners consider as tentative thoughts, ideas that result from brainstorming. Outlines, quotations from other blogs, snatches of ideas, first drafts, rich pictures or concept maps connecting ideas, web links and RSS feeds are all examples of possible content. The posts tend to be disjointed, unconnected ideas and resources. These posts are typically not open to peers and the instructor, except by invitation.
Autonomous EduBlogs
In this type of edublog, a learner is not generally motivated by social interaction, and instead of primarily writing for an audience of peers or the instructor or others, chooses to isolate oneself and blog for oneself. This type of blog is accessible to whole class, even to the public at large. The learner welcomes comments and feedback, but is not de-motivated by their absence. This learner comfortably works without instructor input.
Such a learner is solitary, self-directed, works independently, and engages in self-talk to work through ideas. Such a learner readily adapts and adjusts to changing expectations and roles within the edublogging learning context.
The metaphor of the “Sand Box” suggests unhindered play with ideas. It involves a flowing dialogue between learner and instructor. Examples of content could include annotated bookmarks, reflections on readings, more developed drafts and revisions, impressions on one’s own learning process, narratives, anecdotes, and stories. Such learners respond to other learners’ blog posts using embedded links. These type of edublogs are typically open to peers or public.
The instructor’s role is quite different for the autonomous and private edublogger.
