Student experience in blog use for supplementary purposes in courses

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the views of students about blog use for supplementary purposes in courses. Survey research method was applied for the quantitative dimension of the study, and the semi-structured interview technique was used for the qualitative dimension. Regarding the quantitative dimension of the study, the participants were 68 undergraduates at a university in Turkey; as for the qualitative dimension, the participants were nine students from the same group. The research results revealed that the students' interest in courses, the duration of their preparation for exams, and their socialization did not differ with respect to the variables such as their gender and the availability of the Internet connection. On the other hand, the results demonstrated that there was a significant difference in favour of female students in terms of the variable of achievement. Also, in the study, it was revealed that the students who had frequently followed the course blog and their personal blogs had higher levels of achievement and interest in the course.