One goal in keeping this blog was not only to experiment with the pedagogical use of blogs but also to write a pedagogical paper about well this worked. The first thing I've learned is that I have no idea how to write a pedagogical paper. If you're wondering what a pedagogical paper is, I would suggest first asking someone else. If you get a good answer, please be sure to let me know.
I've put together some notes on the topic, but now I need to put them together. Some of them have been appearing in my most recent entries (on anonymity and on attracting traffic through poor spelling).
The blog is a positive step forward over the already established practice of using journals in class. Blogs are more easily publicized, especially to other members of a class. This opens of the possibility of assignments that have all the advantages of personal journals, but also allow for collaborative learning. The responsibility of writing for an audience enforeces a certain discipline on students. Instead of sharing their personal insights, it encourages writing in way that communicates clearly. I think that both of these are useful improvements over the traditional class journal.
The journal already had several advantages, first, it encourages frequent writing. I used journals in tandem with more formal papers. The journals provided a nice opportunity for first drafts of passages and a place to try out ideas before committing to them. The papers then provide a place for more polished, revised prose. Second, this is a single project that can span the entire semster and allow for more integration. (In a writing intensive class, it can provide a single project that integrates all of the reading from the semester. This would allow papers to either focus closely on single text or use material that students have identified themselves.)
Other things I've learned,
1. Students aren't particularly keen on commenting on the work of others. In addition to whatever social pressures might be involved, commenting is simply more work and students aren't really interested in doing this unless they can see what's to be gained by commenting on the works of others.
2. Students are very interesting in receiving comments on their own work. Students learn from feedback in their work, they know this and they tend to value comments made on their work. At least this is my experience.
3. These sorts of projects can become very labor intensive for instructors. Students want interaction with the instructor and they want feedback on their work. Since posts can go up at anytime, this can lead to a constant stream of commenting work by the instructor and writing comments can be very time consuming. I'm beginning to figure out how to make commenting a little easier through the use of rubrics (in essence, grading forms) when grading papers, but I can't this that this would lessen the flood of reading and commenting that constantly updating journals can involve.
So, the challenge for an instructor using blogs in class is to design assignments in such a way that students are encouraged to engage each other's work (perhaps by requiring a certain number of comments per term) and not to expect feedback on everything they write (perhaps by asking them to select their own favorites for grading at the end of the semester, students should definitely be informed of how frequent comments are to expected at the beginning of the semester.)
I'll probably be continuing to reflect on blog experience for the next week or so in this space, then summer school will start and this may fill up with things I'm thinking about that relate to each class (perhaps follow ups to class discussions, links to relevant material etc.) More traditionally blogerific content will be pushed more and more into my other blog.
1 Comments
Dr.B…As a student I enjoyed using a blog for our class. I thought that it was a productive use of time and it helped me to flesch out some ideas I had about the material I was reading. I did however feel great pressure to keep up with the writing. Additionally, I looked at four other students’ journals and commented on their thoughts about the material we were reading several times. Only one student reciprocated and commented back.
The obvious drawback to commenting on fellow student’s journal entries I believe stems from a lack of confidence in understanding the material. Although, I commented on fellow student’s journal entries I must confess, I felt a bit indifferent about doing so.
I did ask for other student’s blog addresses and willingly gave them my journal address. Zach was the only one who actually commented on my entries. The other students would talk to me about a specific entry in person usually in class or afterwards.
They all seemed happy I had taken the time to read their entries and comment. The one thing I heard repetitively was everyone was behind in work. Reading and writing! I’m sure this played a significant role in the lack of participation in commenting on the journals.
Just as you have already stated it increased your workload as our teacher and students complained they were burdened with writing. I personally thought that was odd considering the class was writing intensive. I reminded a few fellow classmates that it is required that we write in order to receive credit hours for a writing intensive course. They quickly didn’t whine in front of me again.
I did have a conversation with one student who hadn’t used the blogging for journal entries. He was racing around the last few days of the semester trying to compile a journal. The most disappointing thing about this is I think this kid is extremely bright and I valued what he contributed in class. I would have enjoyed reading his blog had he done one online.
I think blogging is an interesting method for getting ideas out there. It encouraged me to write and to think about the material we were reading! Wasn’t that the purpose?
If you decide to continue with the blogs I think it should be mandatory that every student does one online. Each student could be assigned three other students blog address and at least comment twice on all three students journal. There really isn’t much time involved in doing that and it raises the bar for everyone. It’s a great check and balance system. Additionally, it cultivates great work ethic and integrity for all students in the class.
I see you have made additional comments on our journals and I will re-read the comments and respond. I had a feeling you might do this and I have been checking my journal.
By 
, at
11:03 PM
