4.4 The Journal
The last two suggestions in this lesson require each student to have his or her own blog. Having now worked your way through the majority of this learning module, you are probably already imagining the pros and cons of such a strategy. The most obvious advantage of an individual blog is its voice, which is wholly that of a single person. Ideally, some of your students will continue blogging after the course is over. But managing/reading so many student blogs can become a burden for the instructor. Be warned. (Chuck Tyron offers a useful overview of the pros and cons of individual blogs.)
An individual blog works wonderfully, though, as an online version of the traditional student journal. Because a blog is public, it is not the appropriate place for writing about particularly sensitive or private subjects, but as a place for capturing responses to reading assignments, a blog has several advantages. First, the pressure of writing publicly often encourages writers to more carefully consider their audience and, therefore, to do better work. (The flip side is that insecure writers might be less willing to take potentially-embarrassing risks.) Second, you will be able to browse through your students' journals at your leisure and without having to collect and carry paper copies. Plus, the comments feature offers a great venue for you to provide positive reinforcement and encouragement. All writers like to be complimented publicly. (It is usually best to offer criticism privately, either through email or face-to-face.)
How to: I would suggest familiarizing yourself with one blog tool, reserving a computer lab (if possible), and devoting one class period to teaching your students how to setup a blog of their own. Ideally, after 50 minutes or so, all of your students will have already created, named, customized, and posted to their sites.
One suggestion: After he or she has created a blog, ask each student to send the site's URL (or web address) to you via email. You might consider creating a blogroll of all of the sites. By posting that blogroll on their blogs, your students would, in effect, create a blog community. Doing so will encourage your students to read and comment on their classmates' journals.
Menu
1. history of blogs
2. anatomy of a blog
3. how-to
4. active learning
5. professional development
table of contents
