Vincent Gagnon

Elementary students’ affective variables in a networked learning environment supported by a blog: a case study / Variables affectives des élèves du primaire dans un contexte d'apprentissage en réseau soutenu par un blogue: une étude de cas

This study documents to what extent writing on a blog in a networked learning environment could influence the affective variables of elementary-school students’ writing. We grounded our framework more specifically in theory of self-determination (Deci & Ryan, 1985), relationship to writing (Chartrand & Prince, 2009) and the transactional theory of Rosenblatt (1991). Our research team used both pre and post-tests to measure affective variables and we conducted the analysis on the basis of inferential and correlational statistics using SPSS 17®. We also used qualitative analysis to identify writing intents and topics of blog posts. Results indicate, in particular, an increase in motivation to write in pupils who used the blog, whereas the number of comments made per post did not seem to have any definitive impact on this subject.