iSean

i intend to use blogging as a tool for communicating with my students, but also for my students to communicate with each other. i will likely de-emphasize the internet discussion forum and shift more attention to the use of blog, though i’ll still use the phpBB discussion forum. for what it’s worth, i considered using edublogs for blogging, but they discourage teachers using it with students. so, i am going to use blogsome, which uses WordPress just like this blog. it’s also free. this blog entry is my attempt to think out loud as i weight the plusses and minuses.

phpBB forums strengths:
this is a controlled environment. i can see every post/comment made by my students in one place. it’s efficient, convenient and effective. when i want to grade the value of the various contributions, the forum administration tools provide me with tools to quickly evaluate individual students. i can edit any comments made (e.g., to correct a spelling error or to delete a double submission). i can poll my students easily. i can make class announcements in a timely manner as all participating students will check the forum throughout the week. i can easily add images and make links and tie content into the weekly objectives. i also add avatars (photos of my students) so that i “see” each student every time they comment (as do the other students). if students forget passwords, they can easily have it reset (i can’t look it up, but tools exist to change it). i can also customize the look and feel of the forums.

phpBB forum disadvantages:
i don’t really have much to complain about. i have to keep group size to around 8 - 10 students at most because otherwise, i think people participating later in the week tend to feel that the contributions they want to make have already been hashed out. compared to Blackboard, which my university provides for me, the phpBB forums are light-years ahead, so any disadvantages should be viewed in light of this revelation.

blogging strengths:
blogging is becoming quite the rage and i think keeping a journal can be a good way to reflect back on content that you’ve learned while in school, but it can also be used while teaching to continue improving. blogs are more permanent than discussion forums. blogging can be as formal or informal as the author chooses. blogs are open to the world, so anyone can read it and add comments and/or feedback.

blogging disadvantages:
blogs are open to the world, so anyone can read it. ;~) yeah, i added this under strengths and weaknesses and it is both. i worry about having my students write in an open environment. i’ll encourage my students to create their blog anonymously and to not reveal private information (e.g., contact information, names, etc.). that’s good enough for me. blogs are spread out and each student has a unique URL, which can make it difficult to locate. in the past, students have lost passwords or login information and had to recreate new blogs, so their contributions to the course get spread out.

while there is much more, this is the gist of where i am in viewing these tools. my solution is to use phpBB forums and blogsome for blogging. i will try and pose more controversial subjects/questions in the forum and more personal content in the blog-o-sphere (e.g., how would you handle this scenario in your classroom . . . ; or please comment on this article). classes start this coming Monday so i suppose i’ll settle on my happy medium by then. ;~)

am i missing anything crucial in my thinking? feel free to comment or email me.