Using 'EconBlog' in teaching economics

Abstract

Blogs have become powerful interactive tools for people to share their thoughts and resources online. Given the recent financial crisis, a blog community related to economics and finance called ‘EconBlog’ has become an essential tool for economists to share their views with others. This paper reports a case in which EconBlog was used in an effort to enhance students’ learning in higher education. A questionnaire survey was employed to collect feedback from 80 third-year students who had to carry out an international finance project in which they developed EconBlogs to share their analyses of daily exchange rate fluctuation. The students reviewed and discussed their EconBlogs in class every week in a learner-centred constructivist environment in which interaction was central. The EconBlog applications offer opportunities for expanding and enriching communication among students and teachers; and they also put students in a real-world situation, sharing their work with the public. The student feedback showed that they appreciated these learning activities and thought that this learning experience would promote their self-learning capacities, help them to explore their inner potential and build up their confidence in being successful in the information society. In addition, the standard ordered probit model was used to investigate the factors that affect students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of using blogs for improving their learning. Further investigations will be carried out on the use of other Web 2.0 tools to enhance teaching and learning in higher education.