PsychLiverpool has become a powerful peer-to-peer learning tool, which encourages academic
reflection. In PsychLiverpool, reflection is not a supplementary activity to the academic assessment process. Reflection is enabled because blogging is, for our students, a socially accepted method of talking. For students blogging is not bounded by psychosocial problems or cultural. Students at PsychLiverpool can share their experiences, both good and bad, discuss ideas, talk about their dissertations describe and discuss campus experiences and connect together in a mutually supportive environment. Operating through an enthusiastic network of online learners from different socio-economic backgrounds, education and cultures, our Merseyside Universities have become “Edgeless”. PsychLiverpool is an active learning experience.
The educational and psychological literature is rich with reports on the benefits of blogging for student development. These include the ability to communicate complex topics to a general, enriching language skills self-reflection and self-disclosure, stress management, enriching employability, team work and leadership and encouraging citizenship behaviours.
Through their blogs and sharing of online material, students learn about writing in
public. They become the producers of online content, not just the consumers. Students learn how to communicate complex topics to lay audiences, to expand their digital literacy and they learn about online professionalism whilst working as a team. Students can have their individual blogs published and learn from each other, and from me, about how to usefully apply that experience to enhance their CV. All of which has the ultimate aim of presenting themselves in a manner that will encourage employers to offer them jobs.
So, please send your blog to a.forsythe@liv.ac.uk
