Use of blogs in online college classes

A BLOG (WEB LOG) is a type of website where you can instantly post your writing. Using web based blogging software, anyone can easily publish their ideas on the Web from any computer with an Internet connection.

The best known use of blogs is for personal online journals. (www.livejournal.com) However, the educational community is now finding many uses for blogs. Blogs can be used in at least two different ways: as a group journal where all members can post; or each individual in a group can have their own blog with each linked from a single webpage.

Group blog for EdTec 572 at San Diego State University: http://blog.online-edu.org/minjuan/

Individual Blogs linked on one group web page, San Diego State University EdTec 296: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec296/blogs/index.html

Uses for Blogs within a college course

Weblogg-ed: using weblogs in education
www.weblogg-ed.com

Instructor uses the blog as an online course management tool where s/he posts assignments, announcements, information and summaries of lessons.
A weekly topic is posted and each student posts their thoughts on the topic.
Post articles relevant to the course.
Students post their thoughts regarding articles.
Class discussions on course readings and lectures.
Students post their writing assignments and homework exercises.
Students exchange information related to the course's subject.
Students post comments, questions and advice about the course to Instructor and fellow students.
Students post their thoughts on what they are learning.
Students use the blog as a writing portfolio.
Students read each other's rough drafts of writing assignments and give feedback.
Students and Instructor discuss news related to the course's subject.
Students discuss class activities.
Online students can get to know each other by reading and commenting on each others blog entries.

Blogs as an online discussion forum

Discussion is an important part of any college course. There are a variety of discussion formats that can be used within an online course including bulletin boards, email listservs, chat rooms, and blogs.


Bulletin board	Email listserv

Chat room	Blog

Blogs are a hybrid of oral and written discourse. They are written, but in a casual atmosphere that reads like oral communication. Blog entries can stand alone as written communication but they also allow commentary from readers. Blogs are both monologues and dialogues. Each individual blog entry is a monologue of the author's ideas. When many authors blog together and comment on each other's entries, it becomes a dialogue.

As a form of writing for public consumption, blogs encourage people to more clearly express their ideas in depth than do emails and bulletin boards. Blogs encourage communication within a community of blog users, such as an online college class. Blogs deal with the process of exchanging ideas.

Design features of Blogs appropriate to online college classes

EduBlog Insights
http://anvil.gsu.edu/EduBlogInsights/

Blogs are available anywhere, anytime, to anyone that has a computer with internet access
Wide variety of free blogging software on the web enables anyone to create a blog
Easy to use for people with limited web skills
Quick to update with new content.
Non-time-synchronous, so they are convenient for people in different time zones
Entries can be organized by topic or by date
Individual Blogs can be easily linked to form communities so each person can keep track of everyone else in the community
Everything is archived automatically so there is no loss of old discussions
Most blogging software have search engines built in so you can search archived entries
Flexible and easy to design, a variety of templates available
Allows replies to entries, which are linked to the original entry, like threaded discussions in bulletin boards
Friends, parents and other students can see blog entries; not just the students currently registered in the course as is the case with the bulletin boards in many course management tools
Blogs can be continued after the class is over if the bloggers are still interested in communicating
A person can easily upload a user photo that will be shown with every entry he/she posts. Online students separated by distance can see what other students look like to give them a feeling of being connected.

Pros and cons of using blogs

Pros	Cons
Quick and easy way to create a class website	Takes time to keep a blog updated
More public form of communication than email so it encourages students to organize their thoughts more clearly before writing them	Writing may be more casual than assignments turned in by traditional methods. May encourage sloppy writing habits similar to email and instant messaging.
Flexible, lots of uses	Not all college courses have content that is appropriate for discussion and opinion essays
Easy way to practice writing and improve writing skills	May be difficult for some students who have lower computer skills
Once students get in the habit of blogging for class, it is easy to continue writing because it is easy to create your own blog	Some professors and/or students may not want to learn new technology
Give students a feeling of ownership	Students may not blog if they are not required to because it takes time
Encourages class participation and discussion	If students are required to blog but they do not have anything they want to say, they will only write the minimum and it may not be relevant or useful
Encourages students who are shy about talking in class to share their ideas	It may be difficult to keep the students blogging about subjects relevant to the class.
A place for students to express themselves and share information	It could be difficult to follow a discussion if replies are in individuals' blogs rather than immediately next to each other
Easy for all students to read each other's writing	Blogs do not give the feeling of a conversation because there is time delay
Easy for instructor find out what the students think and feel about the class and the lesson content	Blogs are not good for questions that require fast answers
The class can share their writing with people outside of class.	Blogs do not offer confidentiality
A place to collaborate on projects	Blogs may create competition between students

Instructor's Role in promoting good discussion

Instructors should teach "Netiquette" to students before they begin blogging. Instructors should warn students to be respectful of each others ideas, but at the same time, encourage them to debate. Students should be encouraged to read each others blog entries and reply to them. Students should be encouraged to carefully proofread their blog entries before posting them, in order to ensure that they take this form of writing seriously. Students should be strongly encouraged to only post material relevant to the course's subject area. The instructor should monitor the class blog and post relevant information, but allow the students to feel that the class blog is their own space where they can feel free to write without interference. The instructor should require mandatory writing assignments that must be posted on the class blog, to make sure that all students will participate.