Just finished a great “webinar” seminar with Ed about blogging and teaching, the take home point of which was this: I’ve got so much to learn! (Thanks Cengage Learning for hosting.)
There were 40-50 folks in the webinar and it quickly became a rich forum for exchanging ideas about how to use blogging in the classroom, and how to use computers and the internet as teaching tools more generally. There are a lot of really talented teachers out there doing really great things. Many folks are having their students blog about their own research processes, about historical topics, about how current events relate to the past. Some folks shared their rubrics for how to grade blog entries. Others simply discussed really innovative teaching strategies.
I hope we can keep the conversation going here, so please let us know how you have used blogging in the classroom. Has tweeting worked? Could tweeting work? How do you assess students who do these kinds of assignments? What other strategies have you tried? Inquiring minds want to know! Please share your ideas.
I’ve never participated in a webinar before, but that was amazing. I learned so much from the comments and chatter. I would have never thought to have rubrics for blog comments before … but it was just one of the many great ideas. Looking forward to having some of the folks here as authors and contributors.
I joined this discussion as a result of the same webinar. We will get to the door knob a bit later. 🙂 I am only beginning to think of the blogging. Reason? My online classes are almost completely discussion. One student posted to me today that they discussions are the spark in what might be an otherwise “flat” class (meaning reading from the screen) She said she waited to see what was going to go on each week. (such nice words 🙂 At this point I am not sure what blogging might offer, other than, a more casual, non-assignment atmosphere for them to express themselves. But come to it with an open mind, just not loads of time for blogging. 🙁 We shall see what emerges. I love having rubrics for everything…especially in an online class, it gives students a guide and an answer to the “why did I get that grade??”
Hi, Ms. Starlady, Ed, and Kevin! I loved the doilies/door knob scenario (and for the uninitiated, it’s worth a listen – a euphemism, metaphor, and practical tip all in one!!) In any event, I find it incredibly challenging in my online courses to get that spark. I think my classes in particular suffer from reading/comprehension challenges in addition to students never having been expected to contribute to a discussion in class (and only begrudgingly doing so). Can I borrow your student to motivate mine? On a more serious note (as I am checking airfare for her right now) – the webinar was really great – it’s daunting to branch into the vast spatial unknown (here, I mean the internet, not my own fantasy land of great classes) and I’m somehow reassured that we are all contemplating the same/similar things!! I love the idea of the blog, and this helped to clarify a few approaches.
Thank you, Ed and Kevin!!!
To echo the last comment, one of the most productive discussion pieces for me was our chat about talking openly about teaching students how to read: blogs, primary sources, the textbook, etc. That is something I am going to do lots more of in the fall semester.
We have been tasked with focusing on reading for our latest round of assessment here, and that’s something that I still don’t have any direct assignments or teaching tools for. As part of my ongoing course redesign, I am working with what I can do to both teach and reinforce critical reading beyond simply the use of quizzes and the like. I’d love some further ideas as people work on these things.