Sharing experiences of an international teaching collaboration: from bemoaning blogging to reflective practice

A collaborative teaching project developed within two sport management programmes – one in Australia and one in the UK – provides the focus of this study. An online blog was used throughout the study to provide a means of communication between the two lead academics, and the project effectively used an action research method within a reflective practice context. The blog allowed for asynchronous collaboration, and charted the journey from a practical dumping ground of frustration to a supportive and reflective forum of evaluation. Reflection in-action highlighted a level of description of immediate practicalities and challenges faced in relation to the design and execution of the project, resulting in a platform for ‘real time’ problem solving. Reflection on-action highlighted that the viability of the teaching project relied upon the strength of the collaborative working relationship between the academics. This multilayered reflective approach to analysing the blog identified insightful action points for future research and embedded opportunities for professional and personal development.