Student survey

My discussion with the students regarding the use of a blog during their fieldwork experiences indicated the the following:

• All the students were of the opinion that a blog would have added value during their fieldwork experiences in the past, especially during their 3rd year of study when they often had to ask for assistance from fourth year students. According to them a blog can act as an 'easy connection' to other students, especially for students who do not stay in the residences on campus, and as a way in which collaborative learning can be facilitated.  It can also assist students in formulating their opinions in the written form; they can share interesting literature and case studies; and it can possibly act as a source of information for newly qualified OTs during their Compserve year.
• Some of the students appeared to be more computer literate than others. One student stated that she grew up in a small town where she did not use any computers before coming to SU, and still does not use it when she goes home. Only one of the four students was familiar with blogs and read them on a regular basis. I found this very interesting as I just assumed that the younger, educated generation would be more computer literate. Even these young students spoke about the 'younger generation' of OT students who were more computer literate than them, and who would possibly be more actively involved in blogging (This made me feel like a old digital immigrant). However, these four students all had access to the internet and made use of 3G cards and cellphones. They also believed that they will get better at blogging through the use thereof.
• It was recommended that the lecturer should  preferably email the blog address to the students before the start of the clinical block, so that students could read all the previous comments and adequately prepare for the block. 
• The students  were furthermore of the opinion that a certain amount of structure would assist in the students' participation in blogging. Some stated that they did not like to be told to do something (eg the amount of blogs/week or blogs/clinical block), while others preferred the opposite. The possibility of allocating marks according to their participation rate was discussed. According to them it was also essential that the blog should be user-friendly and that the students should enjoy using it.

Although this was an informal discussion with only a few students, it resulted in some interesting thoughts by the students regarding the possible use of a blog to facilitate the process of collaborative learning during the students' fieldwork experiences. However, it is important to take certain aspects into account, for instance the computer literacy of students, and the time available for blogging, during the design phase of the intervention.