Fischer - Comparison of blogged and written reflections in two medicine clerkships

The Fischer article discusses the employment of new educational technologies. Fischer criticizes the use of new technologies without an initial comparison of their effectiveness with traditional technologies. This particular study found students performed about equally well in terms of level of reflection for the themes tested. A student’s preference between traditional writing and blogging for reflective exercises was found to be determined by the student’s prior experience. This study supports the idea that teachers may include blogging as a medium for reflective activities especially for students with prior experience. With the numerous learning and collaboration technologies that are becoming available, it is crucial for teachers to have metrics to compare a new technology with traditional ones. It is probable that employing technologies that are in the ‘peak of inflated expectations” stage may exacerbate the ill effects of using new technologies without due diligence.