Getting Blogged Down

Dear ADDIE,

I suggested that a teacher use blogs instead of the discussion list, so that her students could post images and  introduce themselves thereby building a sense of community with course participants. As the course moves forward the blogs  then  become spaces where students can use them as journals to reflect and deepen their understanding of the course material. The teacher says that these have become with many students incredibly successful—in fact too successful. The teacher wants to be responsive and not wait too long to comment on student’s posts, but it is getting to be quite a chore to check each blog. Do you have any suggestions? 
Sincerely,
Wade Bloggs

Dear Wade,

First of all, I love the idea of students introducing themselves via a blog. It gives a sense of ownership as well as community that just isn’t present in a text-only discussion board.

As far as checking all the blogs—that IS a drag. Depending on the LMS used, you no doubt are aware of notification systems to students for new announcements, etc. And most use of RSS is likely aimed at having students receive updates.  But here is a situation where it is beneficial for the teacher to get updates from individual students or project groups. Have you thought about suggesting that the teacher use RSS (or become a follower?) from the blogs?  Then she need only check her reader for new posts.

Another alternative that I have tried with success is to have students have access to a single blog page and add their introductions for example on that one, and then create another for students to report on a project. That way the students themselves don’t have to visit many sites either.  I’m just beginning to test out Pageflakes  where I can set up separate pages with simple blogs for each project. Has anyone else use PageFlakes for this or other educational purposes?  Let us know.  

Best,

ADDIE

Do you think social bookmarking and my course should hook up?

Dear ADDIE,
A colleague of mine keeps urging me to get acquainted with social bookmarking. She thinks it will be a good match for the course I am developing, but I'm not so sure. I'd like to try it, but I am not sure if it is my cup of tea, so to speak. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions?
Signed,
Testing the Waters in Watertown

Dear Testing the Waters,
First of all, I think you should wait until the time is right. Remember that the selection of tools ought to be guided by how well they will help students achieve learning objectives. I know you might be feeling you should try it or that you  are tempted by something new and exciting, but wait until there's a good match.

To be honest, I have been a slow adopter to social bookmarking. It has not been until recently that I have seen its merits, so I can't speak from long experience. However, I do see the potential benefits of using Delicious for project-based learning where a group would be working together on an a extended project. Here's a link to a great site that covers all aspects, from samples to a list of activities.
http://designing.flexiblelearning.net.au/gallery/activities/social_bookmarking.htm

I also hope readers will use the comment feature to add their ideas for activities using social bookmarking.
Signed,
Steve (For ADDIE)

Is there life beyond discussion boards?

Dear ADDIE,
I am working on a course with an instructor who wants to have an online class of 10-15 student-teachers brainstorm and create a list of potential social studies field trips. We already will be using the discussion feature quite a bit throughout the course, and I'm having a hard time getting her on board for using any interactivity but discussion. Can you and your readers give me some advice? Should we stick with the familiar structure of the discussion board or venture out to some Web 2.0 technologies that would mean we go beyond the LMS? And if the latter, so do you have any suggestions?
Signed,
Somewhat Discuss-ted

Dear Somewhat,
I hesitate to make a judgment without knowing the experience with online learning that the learners possess.  If they are not comfortable with navigating the Web or this is their first online course, I would lean toward keeping the activity simple and structured. It might be within the discussion board or mean just having students email the teacher. Then she distributes the completed list to the class. It might seem boring to you but this experience might be "new and interesting" to this class. The teacher also might need to time to get be more comfortable with the new technology.

That said, if experience is not the issue then I would highly recommend Google Docs. Once the teacher has an account, students' emails can be added and invited to access the  document. That way students could then add a field trip suggestion to the the list.  See
http://docs.google.com/
Do any of you readers have other thoughts or suggestions for activities?
Best,  
Steve (For ADDIE)