Back in the spring, Deborah, Mikhail, Jill and I presented on blogging (with students, with fellows) at Baruch’s technology conference. Although we had lots to say about what we were doing, we also ended up saying quite a bit about the hows and whys of blogging with students, since the audience appeared to have a wide spectrum of experience with blogging.
Underlying every such discussion is that old chestnut– “Why blogging instead of Blackboard?”
I have reasons ranging from aesthetics and useability to more pedagogical ones. I like the primacy that’s given to the writer in a blog, as opposed to the threaded discussion format of Blackboard. But the biggest benefit in blogging for me is that students (or fellows, for that matter) are having a public conversation on a blog. Here on cac.ophony.org, our institute’s conversations obviously benefit greatly from the regular reader-contributors, as well as those just passing through.
For students, I’d argue the value of a public conversation even if “outsiders” aren’t allowed to comment (though I’d also argue that in most cases, allowing the public to comment is a good idea). This allows students to engage with interested parties who surf in. For our students, it also adds an extra layer to whatever blogging the class is doing: participants have to think of a wider audience. This is a responsibility that does not accompany other kinds of class writing. Many faculty ask students to imagine they’re writing for an audience besides the professor and classmates. With a blog, and a bit of publicity, there’s no need to imagine an audience.
What better way to prepare students for writing in the world of work, than to have them write in the world, while they’re students?
Many professors thinking of blogging for the first time with students are reluctant to leave Blackboard behind as a discussion venue due to worries about the public nature of blogs. There’s the fear that your comments will be filled with viagra ads. Most objections to non-password-protected blogs relate to a lack of understanding of how well spam filters can work to keep out the riff-raff and random garbage.
Sometimes there’s also a concern that participants won’t be able to write as freely on a given issue if the venue is public. I’d argue that even in cases such as faculty development, where bloggers might like to say some things privately to one another, it would be best to have writers mark individual posts as private and password-protected (for members only) and most others public. This does make things a bit more complex for people doing the posting (they have to remember to check the right box!) but it seems do-able. And most postings are unlikely to be of a sensitive nature.
… the interesting thing is that he mentioned that he doesn’t see how blogs are much of an improvement over discussion boards. I’ve been reading and reflecting a lot on the conversation from a few days ago, and some of the outcomes from my workshop this week, and I have to say I think the difference is obvious: transparency. When I post to my blog, it not only has a chance to be read by a billion people, it also lives on in the Google-able and Technorati-able world of content. It also gets linked to by other people having other conversations. And it also creates a real sense of ownership of the ideas and the membership in the community.
I think these points about the importance of the public nature (and the author-centered nature) of blogs are right on the money, and too often missed. But I do have one small quibble–I really want to be hesitant about saying that blogs are “better” than discussion boards (or vice versa). Both are useful tools, and both are rich and productive teaching media. But they serve different purposes. It’s not necessary for either one to be superior or inferior, rather we should be thoughtful about using each medium when and as appropriate for specific teaching and learning (and writing and communicating) goals.
Reply to Joe
Wonderful post that’s well thought out and well said. I appreciate your explanation of audience and realizing the purpose of the assignment for the student. I certainly write differently depending on the audience and the purpose. Thank you.
Reply to Kimberly
Thanks, Joe! Point taken. I am willing to venture that there is a place for Discussion Boards. But I’d be really interested in hearing more about the situations in which they’re better–which purposes and so on. That’s not meant to sound like I’m throwing down the gauntlet (!) –I am truly interested in your take on this.
Thanks, Kimberley–and welcome!
Reply to Kate
Kate, you make some interesting points. I’m still thinking about the public/private nature of blog and e-mail. That is, the public statement vs. the private comment, which we see played out on our little offering. Which also brings me to my closing remark: Thank you for stopping by our blog, http://www.nyiabcchatter.blogspot.com. Your comment was appreciated!
All the best -
Judy
Reply to Judy Jones
Although the majority of Kate’s post concentrates on other important characteristics of blogs, I am especially interested in her mention of their relative strength in the area of aesthetics. Perhaps she, or others interested in the blogging v. Blackboard debate, can elaborate on the comparison in this arena.
The recently released Pew Internet & American Life Project report, “Bloggers: A Portrait of the Internet’s New Storytellers” (covered here in today’s New York Times), reports that 77% of bloggers give as a reason for blogging “expressing themselves creatively.” I read this as an indication that aesthetic concerns are a factor in drawing bloggers to the medium. Unfortunately, the report addresses educational blogs barely at all, but some of the trends noted (such as the one just cited) describe the weblog behavior of college-aged women and men, trends which teachers can potentially harness toward educational ends.
Reply to Tom