Blogs
Do instructors still blog? It seems like FB and Twitter would make more sense today. Thoughts?
William,
Some will, but I agree that it is evolving into FB and Twitter. Twitter is a great tool to teach good word usage in getting a message across. You only have 140 characters. . . .
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
William-
I was wondering that as well as I was going through this section. Facebook & Twitter seem to be more naturally integrated into the classroom. Blogs, in my opinion, can be great for exploring a topic in-depth, but might not be as easily incorporated into the classwork.
Lindsay
I would agree, Lindsay. I just do not see how blogging would be as beneficial as the options that Twitter offers. Blogs seem like they would be busy work that does not necessarily contribute to the quality of classroom experience. In addition, many online schools do not allow you to grade anything outside of the actual online classroom itself.
Lindsay,
You bring up some great questions. I can use blogging tools within my LMS. That keeps the posts private or I can use a wordpress product or blogspot to have a more open dialogue that can incorporate outsiders. It is your call.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Rebecca,
Most use blogging as a way to determine if students can use the vocabulary, explain the skill, or integrate learning with current events. It is not for notification.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
It may be more appropriate to use a blog as a destination site. For instance, have the instructor set up a blog based on the class topic/content and continually update it, using it throughout may classes. That way it's not class specific, it's not graded, it may promote some more free exchange of ideas with the students, and new students can read and respond to older posts from previous classes. This may not work for all subject matters but for many, I can see the advantages.
Linda,
I think that is a great way to use the blog. There may be ways to branch off that. It could be used as a model for other communication. Nice post.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
