From Essays to Blogs: Reflections on Learning, Risk, and Community in a Digital Academic World
Dr Daniella Spiteri-Cornish
Digital Collaboration and Learning at Work, 2026 (AI generated image created by ChatGPT)
As part of my recent career trajectory within Higher Education (HE), I have been working closely with my Clinical Education academic team to review aspects of our assessment practices. I am based at the University of Leeds in the UK, where, like many institutions, we are engaged in a programme-wide evaluation of curricula in response to contemporary changes across Healthcare and Education. These changes are not occurring in isolation. They are shaped by national drivers, workforce demands, and a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
In line with the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, our team recognised the increasing importance of equipping students with skills that extend beyond disciplinary knowledge alone. Confidence, adaptability, and digital literacy are now core capabilities for graduates entering complex healthcare environments. This prompted us to critically examine whether our existing assessments genuinely supported students in developing skills with relevance and utility for their future professional roles.
One outcome of this reflection was a decision to redesign a traditional written essay assessment into a blog and vlog format. At the outset, this felt like an exciting and progressive step. With a growing curiosity about educational technologies and innovation, I was genuinely enthusiastic when our university academic governance group approved the proposal. It felt like an opportunity to align assessment more closely with real-world communication practices and contemporary modes of knowledge exchange. What I had not anticipated was how quickly my enthusiasm would be tempered once we began implementation. The first and most immediate challenge was the technology. I can admit, hand on heart, that I had never written a blog post in my life. Suddenly, I was grappling with questions I had never needed to ask before:
- What makes a blog academic?
- How does tone differ from an essay?
- How do structure, accessibility, and audience shape meaning in digital writing?
These were not skills I had been explicitly prepared for during my own academic development. As I attempted to navigate blogging platforms, multimedia tools, and the unfamiliar terrain of likes, shares, and online visibility, I found the experience both overwhelming and humbling. I became acutely aware of my own position as a mid-career academic, enthusiastic but not instinctively fluent in digital practices. In many ways, I was experiencing precisely what we were asking of our students: learning something new, outside my comfort zone, without a clear roadmap. Support came, somewhat unexpectedly, through people rather than platforms. Our university IT team patiently responded to what felt like countless cries for help. Library colleagues offered guidance on digital scholarship and academic communication. Most importantly, my own academic peers stepped in—sharing experiences, testing ideas, and reassuring me that uncertainty was part of the process.
This experience brought into sharp focus the value of a community of practice. Wenger’s work on communities of practice reminds us that learning is inherently social; it occurs through participation, shared endeavour, and mutual support. Innovation in education rarely happens in isolation. It depends on finding like-minded individuals who are willing to champion ideas, tolerate ambiguity, and push gently against established boundaries. Within education, I count myself fortunate to work alongside colleagues who share a passion for learning, underpinned by creativity and a willingness to experiment. It is within these communities that new knowledge is generated, confidence is built, and professional identities continue to evolve.
This blog— my second attempt —is itself an outcome of that process. Writing it has required me to articulate reflections, confront my own learning edges, and accept a degree of vulnerability in sharing my experience publicly. In doing so, I have been reminded of Vygotsky’s concept of the Zone of Proximal Development: meaningful learning often occurs when we stretch just beyond what feels comfortable, supported by others who help scaffold the journey.
I share these reflections in the hope that they resonate with fellow educators navigating a changing educational climate. Many of us are being asked to rethink assessment, adopt new technologies, and prepare students for futures that are increasingly uncertain and digital. It is normal, I think, to occasionally feel daunted—or even defeated—along the way.
But it is equally important to recognise that we are not alone. There is a vibrant community of practice within higher education—locally, nationally, and internationally—ready to support, challenge, and champion innovation. By leaning into these communities, we not only enhance our own learning but model the very adaptability and resilience we seek to cultivate in our students.
Thank you for taking the time to read these reflections. Writing this blog has reinvigorated my confidence to continue exploring blogs and vlogs as assessment tools, alongside my students, in the ongoing search for meaningful and innovative approaches to learning and assessment in HE.
