Instructional blogging growth continues at UA
Fall ‘07 Semester Snapshot
UA instructors and faculty have taken advantage of the LTC’s blogging service since 2003 in order to engage their students in a variety of ways.
Fall semester 2007 was no exception as there were over 20 individual blogs for courses and programs at the UA and well over 700 authors.
Dr. Albrecht Classen, distinguished professor in German studies, introduced a professor’s blog in his TRAD104 – Eroticism and Love in the Middle Ages course this semester.
“Being new to the world of blogs, I was very curious about its usefulness and functions,” Classen said. “And indeed, it has proven to be a very pragmatic and helpful online chat room, so to speak, where I can post comments, respond to concerns, alert students to specific issues and thereby gain feedback on a regular basis.
“This has allowed me to adjust my teaching style and some of the mechanics (timing, structure, etc.) and I believe that the students who have used the blog have also been quite happy about it,” he said. “The blog has also allowed my preceptors to reach out to the entire class and to become much more visible and accessible than through their normal office hours.”
There are many different ways that blogs are being used on campus, from Freshman Comp to grad seminars in philosophy. Instructional blogs last semester display the usual mix: a blog for each student in a class, a single course blog where all students may author entries, a blog where the instructor posts entries and students post comments to an entry, and a blog where the instructor posts entries about such things as course news, assignments and events.
Dr. Connie Woodhouse, associate professor in geography and regional development, told us how she uses a blog with her graduate students.
“This is a graduate class; a seminar on water issues in the western U.S.,” she said. “There are only seven students and our class is based on a selection of papers each week, so I usually ask everyone to read all the assigned readings but for each person to take part of one of the readings and summarize it, and come up with discussion questions, on the class blog. The blog entries are up the morning before the afternoon class, so everyone can take a look at the summaries and questions. These are then the basis for presentations and discussion during the class.
“The blog entries are useful for me to see what questions are coming up (and I can do a little research to address them beforehand) and they also ensure that students are doing at least some of the reading and thinking about it!” Woodhouse said. “I’ve varied this a bit by asking them to do a bit of research in a particular topic within an issue and present their finding on the blog.
“The blog is also a good way to share news articles, though we’ve not used it for that as much as I did in the seminar last spring. It’s been a good tool for this kind of class, I think.”
There are also a number of on-going blogs in use from semester-to-semester or throughout the year. Alan Beaudrie, student services and academic affairs program coordinator in the College of Public Health (COPH), started a blog in August 2006 addressing topics such as advising, general information, internship programs, job opportunities and campus activities that may be of interest to COPH undergraduates and graduate students. Since August 2006 he has written nearly 500 entries and received over 500 comments from interested students. What a terrific way reach the college’s diverse student body.
Like any instructional technology, blogging needs to be a good fit with your pedagogy. Experience has shown that students do not find blogs engaging unless they see their professor also engaged in using it.
If you are interested in exploring ways to use a blog in your current or upcoming classes, an LTC consultant will be happy to speak with you. Simply complete the
short online form and an LTC representative will contact you.
For more info
Instructional Blogging Best Practices & Case Studies
List of the courses using blogs during the Fall 2007 semester
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