Blogging conversation outline

As promised, a brief overview of what I said/will say (I'm posting this before the actual session) about the pedagogical use of blogging.

1. what can you do with blogs?

• encourage wrestling with the material outside of the classroom
• introduce additional material "as it happens"
• promote interaction between students
• improve the quality of class discussion
• encourage students to enter into wider conversations
• emphasize personal expression and self-crafting
• engage in meta-commentary

2. why do this with blogs?

• publicly accessible
• part of the broader 'Net/blogosphere
• emphasis on the conversational element
• "column"-discussions, as opposed to the steps or branching trees afforded by a traditional bulletin board
• much easier to incorporate hypertext elements (links, graphics) into posts
• customizability of appearance
• availability of end-user client programs for composition

3. how do you do it?

• have a rubric with clear expectations
• "blogging groups" are a useful tactic for larger classes
• blogger.com is free, easy, and did I mention free?
• comments are crucial; I like haloscan
• make sure to maintain your own blog
• visit student blogs regularly and engage them in conversation via comments
• pass back and forth: draw blog discussions into the classroom, suggest that classroom conversations be continued on the blogs

[Posted with ecto]