{"id":991,"date":"2010-06-10t21:46:42","date_gmt":"2010-06-11t03:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/"},"modified":"2018-06-15t10:38:08","modified_gmt":"2018-06-15t15:38:08","slug":"blogs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/guides-sub-pages\/blogs\/","title":{"rendered":"blogs and discussion boards"},"content":{"rendered":"
many instructors are using online writing – email, asynchronous threaded discussion groups, and synchronous chat – in their teaching. and both students and teachers are using online communications to maintain personal and business relationships. here we present a set of guidelines faculty who are just beginning to use these technologies in teaching.<\/p>\n
in general, students have grown up surrounded by digital technologies and are comfortable integrating them into daily life in ways that most people of the previous generation are not.\u00a0marc prensky coined the term \u201cdigital natives,\u201d to represent the digitally enabled generation that now sits in our classrooms, and to contrast them with the rest of us who are \u201cdigital immigrants.\u201d\u00a0 while as a generalization the distinction between digital natives and digital immigrants is accurate, it is important to recognize that not all of your students will have experience using and be comfortable with these new digital technologies.\u00a0 as with anything else, be aware of what skills and abilities your students bring to the classroom and adapt the learning environment accordingly.<\/p>\n
the annual educause center for applied research (ecar) study of undergraduate students<\/strong><\/a> helps to shed light on how technology affects the college experience. the 2011 study gathered responses from a nationally representative sample of 3,000<\/strong> students in 1,179<\/strong> colleges and universities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n blogs are just one of many technologies that can help facilitate these four factors of academic success. they are part of what randall bass and heidi elmendorf, of georgetown university, call “social pedagogies.” they define these as “design approaches for teaching and learning that engage students with what we might call an ‘authentic audience’ (other than the teacher), where the representation of knowledge<\/em> for an audience is absolutely central to the construction of knowledge<\/em> in a course.” you can learn more about social pedagogies in the chronical article, “a social network can be a learning network”<\/a> by derek bruff.<\/p>\n according to a survey of over 1,900 higher education faculty<\/a> conducted by the babson survey research group <\/a>and pearson<\/a>, over 40% of faculty surveyed have assigned students to read or view social media as part of course assignments, and 20% have assigned students to comment on or post to social media sites. and in total, 80% of faculty report using social media for some aspect of a course they are teaching.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n read more about how vanderbilt faculty are increasingly incorporating social media into their classes in this recent inside vandy article: “academic blogging on the rise<\/a>.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n in \u201c7 things you should know about blogs<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0educause<\/a> describes blogs as:<\/p>\n an online collection of personal commentary and links. blogs can be viewed as online journals to which others can respond that are as simple to use as e-mail. the simplicity of creating and maintaining blogs means they can rapidly lead to open discussions. faculty are using blogs to express their opinions, promote dialogue in their disciplines, and support teaching and learning; students increasingly use blogs for personal expression and as course requirements.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n essentially, a blog is a personal journal published on the web consisting of discrete entries (“posts”) typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first. blogs are usually written by one individual (though occasionally by a small group) and are often themed on a single subject. \u00a0many blogs provide commentary and some function as diaries; both types typically combine words, images and links to other online information. an important part of a post is the ability for readers to leave a comment.<\/p>\n blogging can be incorporated into the classroom in many different ways. here are some of the most common:<\/p>\n vanderbilt has a well-supported blogging service that uses wordpress as its platform. it’s easy to set up your site. visit the vanderbilt university web communications website<\/a> and click on the start a new project button. you’ll be asked to log on using your vunet id\/passoword credentials to access new site request form. if you are affiliated with the college and arts and science<\/strong>, please contact rob fuller<\/a> about your project. if you are with a vu medical center<\/strong> office, lab or department, contact the vumc web development team<\/a>.<\/p>\n university web communications also offers monthly training sessions<\/a> to help you learn how to use wordpress.<\/p>\n how do i evaluate a student’s work? <\/strong><\/span>there are a few strategies you can use to make grading online discussions easier:<\/p>\n 1. grade every entry using a simple rubric.<\/strong> <\/span>this one, by mark sample<\/a> of george mason university, is so simple that after some use you\u2019ll be able to quickly grade any given blog post:<\/p>\n five-point rubric<\/a>, ranging from 0<\/strong> (no credit) to 4<\/strong> (exceptional)<\/p>\n\n
some conclusions ecar has drawn from the latest survey are:<\/h3>\n
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the survey also reported that students identified these four technology factors that support academic success.<\/h3>\n
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some of the general findings from the faculty report include:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/a>why use a blog?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
when to use a blog<\/h3>\n
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curious about how instructors are using blogs in their courses?
\nhere are some examples:<\/h3>\n\n
<\/a>get started blogging at vanderbilt<\/h2>\n
<\/a>common questions about online discussions<\/h2>\n