Blog-o-sphere

This last semester, I used blogs for reports/writing projects for the first time in classes. That doesn't put me on the avant-garde, edgy, techno-wave of education, since many teachers have been using blogs for some time now. Others are already using RSS feeds, wikis, collaborative software, podcasts, screencasts, and a dozen other new ways to distribute and understand information. In the technology change realm, I'm rather behind the curve.

It's difficult to tease out exactly what you want from the blog technology. I didn't find the overall quality of work changed much, even though I was impressed at the level of creativity that using the internet seemed to inspire. I definitely wasn't expecting students to be experts at blogging or even understanding it. Once again, students showed that, in general, we *way* overestimate their skill and knowledge about computers, software, and internet use. Of course, there are some who are very knowledgeable, but for the majority, teaching the technology is an integral part of the lesson.

One of my most important lessons taken away from this assignment was that I need to give more time over to the project. For quality work, other students need time to look at their classmates' work, and everyone needs time for multiple revisions. For about 3/4s of the students, using a blog in a serious academic way was a completely new concept. A handful begged to be able to do the assignment traditionally, on paper, mostly because, "I hate computers."

The first step is usually the hardest. We'll see how it goes this semester!