A Collaborative Learning Environment Using Blogs in a Learning Management System

Over the last decade, we have seen an increasing trend in the development, and adoption of self-paced learning systems in both formal and informal sectors. Our Learning Management system is one such web-based interactive learning system that facilitates the acquisition of structured query language skills. In this pilot study, we extended our LMS teams environment to support more collaborative interactions, and knowledge sharing between learners with a blog feature. Thus allowing learners share their insights and learning experiences and further receive feedback from other learners within the course. To evaluate the effectiveness of our approach, we employed a survey research method and its corresponding evaluations on a selected student population. The evaluation shows that blogs are more effective at conveying one’s learning experience compared to the use of chat rooms as learners could progressively restructure, and develop their understanding of every task. Also, the blogging environment allows them understand other students’ points of view, thus making them convenient for knowledge acquisition and distribution.