Using+blogs+in+your+class

** Purpose **
To give you an overview of how blogs can be used in the educational setting, and to make you aware of some of the issues involved in using blogs in class.

** Learning outcomes **
By the end of this workshop, you should be able to
 * 1) Identify different models of educational blogging
 * 2) Assess the educational potential of using blogs in your course

** Program **

 * 1) What is a blog?
 * 2) Educational focus
 * 3) Analysis
 * 4) Main models
 * 5) Ideas for practice
 * 6) Benefits
 * 7) Assessment and feedback
 * 8) Considerations
 * 9) Class plan
 * 10) Blog and wiki comparision tables
 * 11) Reflection
 * 12) Evaluation
 * 13) Useful links

** 1. What is a blog? **
Check out our page on this wiki and also visit the blog page on the [|Web 2.0 survival guide]

Blogs can be on any topic: travel, hobbies, current affairs, pets, astronomy, plants, adult education, family ... anything!
 * Blog characteristics**
 * A website where a person or a group make regular entries or ‘posts’ on a topic.
 * Posts might include opinion, links, commentary, reflections, discoveries, tips, announcements, or advice.
 * Readers make comments on these posts.
 * Newest material is shown at the top of the blog (i.e., in reverse-chronological order).
 * Posts can include links, photos, video, audio, graphics and other media.
 * Posts are ‘tagged‘ (meaning that authors give them multiple keywords so that they can be retrieved later on) and archived.
 * Blogs are all about the blogger

If you're still not sure, watch a [|YouTube video on blogs]

** 2. Educational focus **

 * Reflection
 * Sharing of opinion, links, discoveries
 * Communication and knowledge-sharing
 * Development and demonstration of understanding
 * Analysis, synthesis, evaluation
 * Presentation and dissemination of information
 * In pairs, analyse some blogs.** Go to the [|Education Innovators site] and explore at least three ANU teachers' sites. Use the table below to help you compare the sites.

4. Main models **
 * || Site 1: || Site 2: || Site 3: ||
 * How is the site being used in class? Class management? Learning focus? Communication (by whom and for what purpose)? ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Who is doing the blogging? Teacher only? Or students, too? ||  ||   ||   ||
 * What are posts and comments about? What sorts of information is included? ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Are posts focused? ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Are the students engaged? Why/why not? ||  ||   ||   ||
 * What is the quality of the writing, thinking, critique, reflection, etc., like? ||  ||   ||   ||
 * What is the use of media (i.e., videos, images, slideshows, etc.) like? ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Is the site easy to navigate? Any problems? ||  ||   ||   ||
 * What sort of 'static' information is included on the site? i.e., What appears on regular 'pages'? ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Why do you think the teacher has decided to use a blog in class? ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 1) Class management (teacher-only site): communication tool, announcements, links, lecture notes and powerpoints, advice to students, resource repository.
 * 2) Educational, teacher as blogger: Teacher writes posts and students comment on what the teacher has blogged.
 * 3) Educational, whole-of-class as bloggers: Anyone in the class can write posts and comment.

** 5. Ideas for practice **

 * Post or comment on course topics or themes
 * Use as communication or class management tool
 * Discuss the 'learning journey'
 * Discuss class, workshop or tutorial activities
 * Create e-portfolios and writing journals
 * Post prompts for reflection
 * Add videos, graphs, images, links to articles, etc. for discussion
 * Ask a guest blogger or content expert to blog occasionally

NOTE:
 * Blogs are their own beastie: don’t use them as email lists, discussion groups, or listservs.
 * Don’t use blogs to get students to post mini-essays or the like. If you want students to write a mini-essay, then ask them to write a mini-essay.

//Intellectual//
 * Writing, reading
 * Integration of scholarly opinion, research, diverse perspectives
 * Track developments in thinking
 * Reflection and critique
 * Creativity and sharing
 * Higher-order thinking especially analysis and evaluation
 * Engagement with key course concepts and themes

//Motivation//
 * Control and ownership
 * Organisation of thoughts, notes, info
 * Students try harder when others can see their work
 * Easy self-publication
 * Wider audience
 * More authentic
 * Common goal
 * Personally valuable

//Communication//
 * Community and socialisation
 * Connection with experts
 * Engagement with new audiences
 * Easy sharing of ideas
 * Appropriate online behaviour

//Management//
 * Ease of feedback
 * Searching via tags, archives and categories
 * Track student progress
 * Communication tool
 * Easy assignment submission
 * Formative and summative feedback
 * Accessible anywhere
 * Easy to use
 * Notifications of changes (RSS and email)

** 7. Assessment and feedback **
//What are you assessing?// Some suggestions
 * Ideas, comprehension, reflection, critique
 * Intellectual engagement
 * Focus
 * Relevant information sharing
 * Development of thinking over time
 * Links to course themes
 * Relevance of post topics
 * Usefulness of comments
 * Frequency of posts
 * Quality of writing
 * Frequency and quality of comments/visits
 * Relevance of media or links

//Good assessment practice//
 * Give clear assessment instructions and guidelines
 * Set clear goals
 * Set concrete tasks
 * Provide examples
 * Develop and distribute assessment rubrics
 * Make regular comments on student posts
 * Allow room for questions/advice
 * Set commenting/posting rules, if necessary

** 8. Considerations **

 * 1) Time and tech factors: assistance, moderation, implementation
 * 2) Audience, expectations
 * 3) Trust and appropriate online behaviour
 * 4) Privacy
 * 5) Legal compliance
 * 6) Mitigating liability
 * 7) Copyright and Intellectual Property
 * 8) Institutional policy and guidelines

**9. Class plan**
Make sure you have one!

//General// //Benefits//
 * **BLOGS: PROCESS** || **WIKIS: PRODUCT** ||
 * Personal || Public ||
 * Static text || Creation of document ||
 * Long scrolls || Relationship of pages ||
 * Monological || Topic/content focus ||
 * Temporal || Atemporal ||
 * Show change in thinking || Show change in writing ||
 * One-to-many || Many-to-many ||
 * Knowledge at top || Knowledge is webbed ||
 * Immediate, in the moment || Mediated ||
 * **BLOGS** || **WIKIS** ||
 * Track developments in thinking || Collaboration, teamwork ||
 * Reflection || Easy sharing of info ||
 * Control and ownership || Synthesis of research, scholarship ||
 * Allows for creativity || Construction of knowledge up front ||
 * ** Writing ** skills, integration of diverse **perspectives**, **communication**, appropriate **online behaviour**, **motivation**, engagement in the **community**, higher order **thinking**, **audience**, **students try harder** || ** Writing ** skills, integration of diverse **perspectives**, **communication**, appropriate **online behaviour**, **motivation**, engagement in the **community**, higher order **thinking**, **audience**, **students try harder**  ||

//... by students//
 * **BLOGS** || **WIKIS** ||
 * Individual student blogs || Group wikis ||
 * Reflection on course content || Sharing info, resources, links ||
 * Learning journey || Resource collections ||
 * Reflective journal || FAQ ||
 * Writing journal || Synthesis of research ||
 * E-portfolio || Pages on course topics ||

//... by you for students//
 * **BLOGS** || **WIKIS** ||
 * Prompts for reflection || Resource collections ||
 * Synthesis of class topics || Glossaries ||
 * Further discussion of class topics || Advice pages (grammar, study skills) ||
 * Group blog: owned by you, but students can comment and post || Demonstration videos, graphs, equations, articles, labs ||
 * News/RSS feeds || News/RSS feeds ||

//Considerations//
 * **BLOGS** || **WIKIS** ||
 * Why a blog? || Why a wiki? ||
 * Privacy options? Comment rules? || Who owns what? Provenance, collegiality, group work problems ||
 * Time and tech factors: assistance? moderating? implementation? || Time and tech factors: assistance? moderating? implementation? ||
 * Purpose, objectives, audience, expectations || Purpose, objectives, audience, expectations ||
 * Concepts, connections and engagement || Concepts, connections and engagement ||
 * Assessment, instructions, guidelines || Assessment, instructions, guidelines ||
 * Trust, personally valuable, common goal || Trust, personally valuable, common goal ||

//Assessment//
 * **BLOGS** || **WIKIS** ||
 * Encourage student feedback on posts || Encourage editing of pages ||
 * Make regular comments || Visit the wiki/s regularly ||
 * Concrete tasks, lots of links || Concrete tasks, lots of links ||
 * Develop and distribute rubric/s; provide examples || Develop and distribute rubric/s; provide examples ||
 * Provide a space for questions and advice || Provide a space for questions and advice ||
 * Development of thinking || Content development ||
 * Links || Data gathering ||
 * Frequency/quality of posts || Frequency/quality of page edits ||
 * Comments/visits || Discussion topics ||
 * Reflection, critique || Analysis, evaluation ||
 * Content: ideas, comprehension, intellectual engagement, focus, info sharing || Content: ideas, comprehension, intellectual engagement, focus, info sharing ||
 * Pages: writing quality; relevance of media, links || Pages: writing quality; relevance of media, links ||
 * Design: organisation, appearance, enhancements, management || Design: organisation, appearance, enhancements, management ||

** 11. Reflection **
What do you think or know now? What is still confusing? What do you need to follow up on?

** 12. Evaluation **
Helpful or not? Let us know your thoughts.

** 13. Useful links **
[|Web 2.0 survival guide] [|Blog basics] [|YouTube vide on blogs]