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February 2, 2005
Blog Talk
I'm giving a brief talk this afternoon on blogging at an electronic pedagogy seminar for first year Brittain Fellows here at Georgia Tech. One of the major points I'm planning to adress will be how blogs function differently in more topical courses, such as my Rhetoric and Democracy class, and my literature- and film-based courses. I've noticed, in particular, that I tend to post more frequently in these topical courses, while in "Spectacle, Surveillance, Control," the blog has done little other than serve as a slightly more public course management tool.
I'll also spend some time talking about the advantages and disadvantages of having students keep individual blogs versus having small group blogs and some of the course manaagment issues that arise from using blogs rather than other course management tools. At any rate, here are some links to previous courses where I've used blogs:
- Writing to the Moment: In this class, it's worth noting that Miles Hochstein, whose website we had discussed in class, actually contacted me and allowed me to share his response on the blog, which became a useful way of talking with my students about audience. This class was also interesting in its use of blog portfolio entries at the end of the semester.
- English 1102 Course Blog: Less topical, which meant the blog merely served as a course management tool. The context for writing blog entries was less defined. This is the last semester in which I used indivdual blogs.
- Rhetoric and Democracy: Note the use of student discussion group blogs instead of individual blogs. Also note that students occasionally would get comments from outside readers, which led to interesting in-class conversations about audience.
- Sample student group blogs: GT North Korea and World Police illustrate how I've reworked the group hypertext project for a greater emphasis on certain kinds of online literacy.
Last minute update: Here's a graduate student seminar paper that discusses a variety of ways in which English instructors have used blogs in their classes.
Posted by chuck at February 2, 2005 2:11 PM
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Comments
Sounds good, and is also quite ironic - Clancy and I are lecturing on the same subject next Thursday.
Posted by: Krista Kennedy at February 2, 2005 8:44 PM
I'd love to see your talk. I have to give two presentations on blogs--one to the board of trustees and one to a science and society colloquium. One will be pretty general and the other pretty specific. As a blogger with a background in rhetoric, I tend to focus on the writing aspects, so it will be interesting to see how this whole thing turns out. Will you be posting anything afterwards?
Posted by: Laura at February 2, 2005 8:45 PM
Krista, I'd noticed that you and Clancy were planning a blog talk. Hope it goes well!
Laura, I'm probably not going to add anything new. The discussion was very informal, mostly an opportunity to talk to first-year post-docs here at Tech about different approaches to using digital technologies in the classroom. This is my third talk on blogs, but it's really something I got into by accident, so not sure my thoughts are terribly organized.
Posted by: Chuck ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://chutry.wordherders.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 2, 2005 9:25 PM