Blogs - Suggested Uses
Blogs, short for "web logs," are very much like diaries or journals with the added functionality that readers can comment on posts. The "posts" are brief entries that are presented in reverse chronological order. A blog supports personal publishing on the web and can be used for a variety of purposes by faculty, students, and staff.
Individual students
- a living, reflective journal on course-related topics
- weekly thoughts on the course readings, inviting comments from other students
- a journal for co-curricular, volunteer, internship, or study abroad activities
- extend class discussions or prompt class discussions based on student blogging posts
- collect and comment on research sources, articles, and activities
Examples:
University of Michigan's Global Intercultural Experience for Undergraduates (GIEU) student blogs:
Instructors
- post weekly reflective thoughts on the course and the discipline
- challenge students and invite comment on issues, resources, and people related to course content
- share new resources, news articles, updates on research in the disciplinary field
Examples:
Dr. B's Blog
A blog of classroom activities and discussions by Dr. Samantha Blackmon at Purdue.
Pharyngula
Paul Z. Myers, an associate professor of science and math at the University of Minnesota at Morris, has been writing his blog for three years. It is considered the "most visited science blog on the Web" and was profiled recently by Minnesota Public Radio.
Course Blogs
Some faculty use blogs as course management systems.
Examples:
Rhetoric 1101
This weblog is for Rhetoric 1101: Writing to Inform, Convince, and Persuade, a course at the University of Minnesota. The theme for the course was "Identity and Multiculturalism," and most of the posts reflect this theme.
Creative Writing
Middlebury College has been using blogs extensively for the last few years. One of the most adept practitioners is Barbara Ganley who uses blogs for her classes as collaborative writing spaces.
Group Blogs
Although blogs are usually thought of as individual journals, groups can collaborate by adding brief entries related to a single project, theme, or disciplinary content.
Examples:
Bioethics Blog
This weblog is written by the Editors of The American Journal of Bioethics (AJOB).
© 2006