Edu Blogs - Work Alone or in Collaboration ?

Wang – Pro’s and Con’s

The Wang and Fang article was a case study on the benefits of Blogs in cooperative learning. During the article I developed my own thesis. How do the online learning styles of students at various levels differ? Do you High School; Undergraduate, and Graduate students have different online learning styles?
I found the article very interesting and relevant to my online classes. I have found that online High School students are very autonomous learners, in our program. I have tried to incorporate some group activities into my classes, but the activities and tasks have not been successful. I have attempted group break out sessions in our Elluminate web-conferencing sessions, group Discussion Board posts, and traditional partner or group research projects. The participation the activities have been minimal and the quality unsatisfactory. I have not attempted to create a group blog page.
However, this my third online graduate level course, as a student. The two previous classes (and this class) have relied heavily on cooperative learning concepts and developing collaborative assessments. The online classes that I have participated in have had more positive interdependence compared to the autonomous learning that takes place in the online classes, that I teach. Is this related to prefer learning style or class design?
I am very intrigued about using Blogs to promote writing, assess student work, and foster cooperative learning. However, the frame of reference that I compare a Blog to is the Discussion Board feature of Blackboard. (Similar to the Discussion area, of this class). Several of the negatives conveyed in the 7 Things you should know about Blogs article can be addressed if the Blog is hosted in a controlled area, not on the open web.
The posts are ‘not’ public. The teacher has the ability to structure the process, edit, and control posts. Personally, I see the most potential by using a Blog as an e-portfolio where students can post and share their own writing, thoughts, work, projects, etc…. It would allow students to have ownership in their work and web-space. Students would have the ability to view and comment on their classmates work. As teacher, it would also give me a central place to view and assess student’s work.
Several of the negatives conveyed in the 7 Things you should know about Blogs article can be addressed if the Blog is hosted in a controlled area, not on the open web.