Using a Blog for a "Class Notes" Page
Among the many interesting sites I've stumbled upon so far in my research on using blogs for educational purposes is a Harvard blog used to keep meeting agendas and notes. This format can easily be transferred to an educational setting and have huge benefits immediately. Think of having a running log of the highlights of each class lesson, pages with expanded material, and categories such as Ask the Professor, Ask Classmates, Schedules, and even Network.
In large classes the professor or a TA could be responsible for posting some highlights to the main page and more in-depth notes on a separate page. For smaller and more advanced classes, this is an activity that the instructor could assign to an individual student each time for creation. Learning becomes much more tangible when say the honors student realizes that part of their grade is attached to two or three posts of notes for fellow students throughout the semester.
While some professors may worry that posting notes from every class may drop attendance, people are starting to realize that this is not the case (of course that's not 100% but just work with me here). I spoke to one professor that was originally worried that recording his lectures and posting the podcasts would drop attendance. He gave it a shot and says he will never NOT record a lecture now. Attendance did not drop and he actually now has less questions to answer because people are able to go back and listen to what he said over and over again until they grasp the concepts.
Adding an Ask the Professor category will help students to realize that they still do have contact with their professor should the need arise, but with an Ask Classmates tab also present it is possible that they post there first if the question is general enough to the audience. This can help to create a sense of community and belonging that should spill over into the classroom... and with that thought in mind, the Network tab. A place for the students to go in, post about whatever suits them, and get to know each other without the pressures of school standing in the way.
These additional tabs are obviously general enough to be added to many blog uses but I figured I would clarify them here in one of my first postings. The main idea here is the notes, the sharing, study/review resources right at ones fingertips, and the community that has just been built around it all.
Among the many interesting sites I've stumbled upon so far in my research on using blogs for educational purposes is a Harvard blog used to keep meeting agendas and notes. This format can easily be transferred to an educational setting and have huge benefits immediately. Think of having a running log of the highlights of each class lesson, pages with expanded material, and categories such as Ask the Professor, Ask Classmates, Schedules, and even Network.
In large classes the professor or a TA could be responsible for posting some highlights to the main page and more in-depth notes on a separate page. For smaller and more advanced classes, this is an activity that the instructor could assign to an individual student each time for creation. Learning becomes much more tangible when say the honors student realizes that part of their grade is attached to two or three posts of notes for fellow students throughout the semester.
While some professors may worry that posting notes from every class may drop attendance, people are starting to realize that this is not the case (of course that's not 100% but just work with me here). I spoke to one professor that was originally worried that recording his lectures and posting the podcasts would drop attendance. He gave it a shot and says he will never NOT record a lecture now. Attendance did not drop and he actually now has less questions to answer because people are able to go back and listen to what he said over and over again until they grasp the concepts.
Adding an Ask the Professor category will help students to realize that they still do have contact with their professor should the need arise, but with an Ask Classmates tab also present it is possible that they post there first if the question is general enough to the audience. This can help to create a sense of community and belonging that should spill over into the classroom... and with that thought in mind, the Network tab. A place for the students to go in, post about whatever suits them, and get to know each other without the pressures of school standing in the way.
These additional tabs are obviously general enough to be added to many blog uses but I figured I would clarify them here in one of my first postings. The main idea here is the notes, the sharing, study/review resources right at ones fingertips, and the community that has just been built around it all.
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