EduBlog Insights

via <BlogDex>

Official Blog for Dr. Chuck Tryon’s English 1101 courses at Georgia Tech. Opinions expressed are those of the writer(s), not Georgia Tech.

Found some more university blogs (both students and professor) at Georgia Tech, right down the road from me…….students reading and analyzing blogs…I like the concept. 

He’s asking his students to focus on:

(1) locating a central argument; (2) analyzing the language and style of the argument; and (3) determining how the author establishes ethos, pathos, and logos.

On The Chutry Experiment Dr. Tyron talks about the first week.

I just finished my first week of teaching here at Georgia Tech, and not surprisingly, I’m pretty exhausted. I always forget how much energy preparing for and teaching three classes requires. As promised, I’ve linked to my course blog (with student links in the blogroll). Perceptive readers will note that I stole the title for my course from George, who borrowed it from Samuel Richardson.

So far, most of my students have expressed some enthusiasm despite this week’s technological nightmares (viruses everywhere, server problems, that sort of thing), but this is my first experience using blogs in a writing course, so I’m not quite sure what to expect. Several of my students, some of whom have written in blogs or participated in bulletin boards seem to be pretty enthusiastic.

In my case, blogging will account for about 25% of the grade, with that grade divided between quantitative and qualitative (a reflective portfolio) measures. I’ll set up a link to the course syllabus once I have it online (hopefully next week).

I’ll be following along with interest to see what these students write. 

via <CIT INFOBITS>

WHY STUDENTS DON’T POST

“Why do some students resist participating in course discussion boards when they know their grade will suffer? How can students with polished social skills come across in online courses as uncooperative and unengaged, with short postings of little substance?” Tim Dotson (in “Why Johnny Won’t Post,” CONVERGE ONLINE, August 27, 2003) provides four categories for students’ failures to post:

logistical (time constraints, difficulty using the tool)

personal (student inhibitions, “discussion board fatigue”)

educational (inexperience with collaboration, inability to

write for the Web)

instructor-related (lack of instructor involvement, lack of

clear requirements for postings).

The author, Tim Dotson, goes on to say:

If students are motivated and capable, perhaps they just need more writing practice, using Web writing style. Web logs (”blogs”) can enhance writing skills. Tools to create this online “diary” are free and easy to use. Blog tools offer more functionality than the discussion board tools provided as part of a course management system, with easy inclusion of photos and other graphics without HTML knowledge. Blogs can be used as part of an online course: for writing practice, student reflection, interaction, resource posting, and a shared class “bulletin board.”

Then he asks this question:

Are your posting requirements carefully designed and pedagogically sound or just an afterthought?

And a quote:

“Students are accustomed to sharing space and time, not ideas, whereas online learning is exactly the opposite.”

In some ways this ties in with my previous post.  This type of discussion is still new and untread territory to many, even those who are pretty proficient with technology.  We need to keep thinking about ways to foster collaboration and sharing of ideas.

Great session last night with the MSIT group.  The class is Design and Development of Multimedia for Education and Training.  They’re a sharp group, caught on quickly, and handled Manila glitches well (you know the story, one or two sites just acted up and who knows why).   Plus, they were a fun group to teach!  Dr. Calandra is great and emphasized to the class that they would be reading, discussing, and developing multimedia for LEARNING.

Weblogs were created and they’re ready to go. Dr. Calandra will be going over the specifics of what he wants them to do on their weblogs later so when they are up and going, hopefully, they will want to share what they are doing.

An interesting note to mention…….when they saw my weblog where I discussed the session and showed them comments from some of you I detected a little bit of alarm from them as to the openness of weblogs and the fact that people would be reading their weblogs. One of the comments - who is Skip Dodson?  They wanted to know who these people were that were already making comments about their class.  Now we all know that that is the best part of weblogs - the learning, the growing, the sharing, and the formation of a community of learners.  We are so used to the back and forth comraderie.  We don’t even think twice about it, we love it!  However, when you are just learning, knowing that an audience is out there and so immediate can be intimidating.  I spent some time talking with them on that aspect. Dr. Calandra understands the nature of weblogs and took time to further the discussion along that line.

Have any of you had this part come up?  How do you alleviate the concerns?   An important part of all this is for us to share in this area, too.  We want to empower but not shut them down in these important beginning stages of learning the power of weblogs.  I plan to continue to get feedback from them later on their thoughts, concerns, and ideas. 

This group is a tech-savy group but those few moments of alarm coming from a tech-savy group gave me pause to re-think.  It parallels with the students being afraid of putting their writing out there for others to see.  No matter how you cut it, there is always that element of fear and apprehension.  It’s not just fear of writing for others to see but a complicated mixture of learning something new, wrapping your brain around a new way of communicating, and then realizing at the same time that you may just be  doing all of this for quite a large audience. Attention is being called to you by others - that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.  Emotions are so important in learning.  Any comments?

An aside to Skip - hope you don’t mind my title but it just seemed to fit the session. 

I’m putting the final touches on my Weblog Workshop site for this afternoon. I plan to close with thoughts & reflections for those beginning the weblog journey. I’m trying to keep it simple yet relevant. Comments are welcome!

Here they are:

• At first, keep it simple. There is much to learn. Don’t worry about what you don’t know. Just focus on how much you can achieve with learning just a little. That’s one of the amazing things about weblogs.
• There is not a “right” or a “wrong” way to post. This is an area that is wide open for exploration of learning possiblilities for both students and teachers.
• Although you will probably begin by creating a weblog for your own use, keep students in mind throughout the process. Students need lots of practice engaging in exciting, collaborative learning activities where they have to discuss, think, contribute, read, and write. Weblogs are a perfect place for this so include them in your thoughts and planning.
• Don’t agonize over your postings. Of course you want to write well. What you have to say is important. But don’t get lost in feeling that every post needs to be perfect. We need more education voices (and student voices) heard!
• Try to post on a regular basis. If you don’t have time to collect all your thoughts, go ahead and post the beginning of a thought or an idea. You can always go back and add more later in a future post.
• Take the time to comment on your fellow classmate’s weblogs, as well as others you visit. This is the way online communities develop and grow.
• If you are quoting another source be sure to give them credit.
• Be sure to write a little about yourself on the About link. People visiting your site want to know a little about you and why you created a weblog.
• The links you create on the side will be of interest to those visiting your site. I always check that out and love when I find a new link that leads to further learning!
• Get ready to enter an exciting world of weblog possibilities. You’ll be joining a community of learners like yourself. I have learned so much from a cohort of dynamic, interesting, and caring EduBloggers. It’s inservice in its best form, designed by us, for us.
• Have fun and enjoy the learning journey!