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December 12, 2005
Class blogging
Sorry to have been blogging lightly lately, but I've been cracking the whip over a reasonably successful class blog. I had students in my Greek Art and Architecture class take pictures of local buildings that were either Greek Revival or used classical architecture vocabulary, post them with a brief text entry, and then comment on each others' postings.
The blog looks great, but I told them that I wouldn't show it to anyone outside the department (some of them were concerned). It's no great loss to the larger world, but it has been interesting. Maybe when the semester is well and truly over I'll close comments and make it more public. It's also one of the pilot blogs for Movabletype on our campus server, so the IT people (who told me last year that this blog is in the top twenty or so referrers to the Colleges' website) asked that we keep it private for this go-round.
One way I helped them find buildings (you have to realize that the young are kind of obtuse and needed guidance) was setting up as categories categories the useful streets of Geneva. Now those categories are clickable links in the side column and generate nice photo sets. Fun!
I've learned a few things that I will do the next time I try this.
1. Use the more experienced to help the less experienced. Sit down with the 30% or so of the class who have already kept a blog (Livejournal and Myspace were both popular venues) or were regular uploaders to photo sites and run them through a tutorial. Then use them as 'consultants' for the 70% who haven't. Unfamililarity with the medium made this HARD for some people.
2. Write clearer directions. Again, the 30% who'd done something similar found them crystalline. Then some more folks had no problem because they like fiddling with new things. I'd say 30% of the class didn't like it at all because they don't particularly enjoy fiddling with new things.
3. Comment more myself. I think that every time I offered a comment I got 2 or 3 direct responses. The grade for this project is pure participation -- so anything that stimulates participation is good.
4. Try a different time-scale. This time I kept it very concentrated -- only the last 3 weeks of the semester. That period was partly dictated by getting MT up and running, but mainly I was thinking that if I ran it as a true COURSE blog lasting all term they wouldn't pay attention. I'm still of that opinion, but I may start the project at midterm next time. My students had a definite pattern of getting to work, taking some pictures (in their little groups), posting them, commenting on everyone else's posts, then never reappearing. It's too task oriented! How could one overcome that tendency?
Posted by CrankyProfessor at December 12, 2005 6:45 AM