Blogs as Teaching and Learning Tools in Health Education Oomen-Early & Burke Entering the Blogosphere: Blogs as Teaching and Learning Tools in Health Education

Preparing health educators in today’s technology-driven society requires faculty to adopt new teaching strategies which motivate and engage the “Web 2.0 generation. ” Blogs are popular online forums for both scholarly and non-scholarly communication. Currently, there are no published studies assessing the utility of blogs in health education. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore faculty and students ’ perceptions of blogging as an effective teaching and learning tool within an online health education course. Students enrolled in both sections of an undergraduate online women’s health class (n = 52) were asked to complete an online survey regarding their perceptions of blogging as a teaching and learning tool. Overall, both instructors and students were satisfied with blogging and found it to be an effective teaching and learning strategy. Results of this pilot study showed that blogging can enhance peer interaction, allow for synthesis of course content, and help sustain student engagement in the online health education classroom. In the near future, blogs may serve as important channels for health education and advocacy beyond the virtual classroom