Reedie Journals
The <The Blog Herald> points to this article on JS Online that tells how weblogs are creating a whole new campus culture.
Lucas Carlson is a current Reedie who hung posters all over the small Oregon school’s campus, inviting Reed students to start a weblog through a site he’d set up. The tagline on his site reads “A free community for Reedies to ramble, vent, discuss, argue, and compose.” A disclaimer reads that the views and opinions expressed in the blogs may not represent the views of Reed College and acknowledges that his website is not affiliated with Reed College. Currently there are 141 journals.
The Welcome post on this weblog reads as follows:
Welcome to a virtual community of Reedies. Have you ever wondered what that quiet guy in class must be thinking, or what kind of movies one of your acquaintances likes? Ever wondered what goes through the psyche of the Reed community? Now you can find out. Excited? So am I. All it takes is to write your thoughts. Everyone counts, so join now!
My idea is to give every current student at Reed College a blog… an open atmosphere where they can express themselves and their thoughts to the world. Not everybody will want to participate, but even if you don’t write in a public journal, they sure are fun to read.
The article lists other universities and cites examples of blogging by students and professors.
The last line of the article is a bit of a downer though. “For many students, thought, the academic appications of blogging are not the most appealing aspect. What leads many to blog is the chance to reveal emotions and thoughts, and perhaps some wisdom, during a time when life is all about transitions.”
Maybe we should give some thought to how to put more of the personal element in our students’ academic blogging while at the same time raising the bar on teaching them to write and think. We can do it!
April 14th, 2004 at 6:14 pm
Thanks for the piece on my site. I have been thinking about setting up Reedie Journals like services for other colleges. Do you think that would catch on?