Abstract:

Recent years have seen a growing demand for innovation in education and meaningful learning in the education system, and in teacher training institutions, in particular (Avidor-Unger & Forkosh-Baruch, 2018). Inductive and cross-disciplinary learning is well-suited to meet this demand (Rooks & Winkler, 2012). The Levinsky-Wingate Academic Center in Israel is meeting the need for innovation over the last four years with its unique, integrative course in learning disabilities, as part of the special education teacher training program.

One of the central teaching tools accompanying the course requires the students to manage a personal blog that they update continually with their personal insights from the lessons they study, as well as sharing their analysis of articles, films and lectures that are an essential part of the course.

Writing in the blog forms the basis for a "digital relationship" between the student and the lecturer. The literature points to the advantages of the use of a blog as an accompanying tool for training students for teaching as well as for the professional development of teachers (Rodesiler, 2017). However, the question arises as to the significance of this teaching tool, which takes place remotely, for meaningful teaching in a face-to-face course. In what ways does the use of a "remote" tool enable and perhaps facilitate an even closer connection?

The lecture will present a thematic content analysis of 57 blogs of female students who studied in the special education program between the years 2018 - 2019. The analysis was carried out by the lecturers who led the course, after the final grades were given. From the analysis, four central themes emerged:
(1) free expression of significant emotions that arose in the context of learning in class;
(2) renewed recollection of both the course content and early childhood experiences;
(3) in-depth understanding of the teacher's role in teaching students with learning disabilities
(4) open and critical reference to unique teaching practices in classes.

Based on these findings, creating, and updating a blog can be presented as a significant learning tool that combines close and distant teaching, and enables deepening of the lesson content and beyond. In addition, it is possible to point to the blog's unique role as a platform for meta-pedagogy, and as a reflective personal diary.

Keywords:

Integrative course, Learning Disabilities, Blog, qualitative research paradigm.