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