Blog-Based Support for Preservice Teachers in an Afterschool Tutoring Program

Abstract

This article reports on findings from a study that explored blogging (a web-based log) as a tool for literacy graduate students to deliver support to preservice teachers who were working in an afterschool intervention program. Its effectiveness is compared to the use of an online literacy instructional module. Analyses of the discussions in nine blogs and lesson plan sets written by preservice teachers indicated that the blogging between the coaches and the preservice teachers aided their learning during the tutoring process. A content analysis of the blogs indicated disparity in both the activities and the types of support in the coach-created blogs that resulted in differences in how the blogs promoted or limited preservice teacher learning. This article concludes with possibilities for using blogs as a mediating tool for learning in field-based courses and teacher training programs.