I thought I would start an open thread about how we did and didn't use the blog and twitter in our class this semester. Some questions to consider:
- How much did you use the blog the semester?
- Did blogging enable you to engage more with the readings and the class?
- Thoughts about the diablog assignment? What about taking notes and posting them?
- Reflections on twitter?
You can post your thoughts as comments to this entry.
I enjoyed using the blog to post class summaries and some of my thoughts. I wish I would have been able to post them sooner, so you would all have a chance to read them before class. What did you all think about my class summary posts? Where they helpful? Will they be helpful in the future?
I liked the class summaries but I think they will be most useful in the future. your blogs are very google-friendly, meaning they pop up very early on when searching for things such as "queer ethics," and i have found blogs form your older classes that have been very helpful to me in other ways.
I blogged a little bit this semester. Blogging seems like a lot of work and I think i would have done more if it was stressed more as assignments (like, every other week post a response to readings and a link to broader pop culture). but if you want me to blog just to blog...i won't. also people didn't seem to comment at all so that made me less likely to post. I was sad no one said anything about my blog post on care and Madison b/c that was a topic I figured most people would be into. Same goes for my post about Orgams, Inc. It is weird to post on crazy shit that usually makes people riled up, and then get silence back. I don't know, I seem to take blogging and comments too personal. But my feelings were like, fine, if people don't want to comment that they at least read my post, then I won't bother. I try to post a comment when I read someone's blog just to let them know I appreciated their labor. But that is my weird thing I suppose.
Blogging did not help me engage more, mostly b/c I did the readings for class pretty early and by the time people post stuff, i just don't have time to read it. My allotted homework time for this class usually came days before blog posts would go up.
Diablogging was ok. People were not really commenting on my posts so I didn't have much of a dialogue with anyone. It was helpful for me to post summaries on the readings the week I did a diablog, made me feel more connected to the readings. I also liked that we got to lead class.
Taking notes and posting them will also be very helpful in the future. I will look back to them often if I need to cite work from class and need a quick refresher.
I LOVED TWITTER. Twitter was totally my speed. I felt it was a good place to check in, vent, celebrate, chat, make jokes, etc. A few people in class seemed way more into Twit than Blog so that helped keep convos going. Again, it was frustrating when people posted a bunch on Tuesdays b/c I never had time to check in due to my schedule. But yes I loved twitter, love love love. So much fun!
Sorry if these comments are snarky. Blah.
-mel
Thanks for your feedback Mel. I especially like your discussion about comments--it did seem very difficult to get people to engage with each other via comments. I wonder why that is? Were we all just too busy? I know that is was sometimes hard for me to engage because I was running two other course blogs. What about everyone else? What prevented you from commenting on other blogs?
you know you are asking why people don't comment on blog posts...within a comment field for a blog post. probability people will comment on why they don't comment: low. LOLZ
Hi everyone,
I didn't use the blog as much as would have liked. My first experience using a class blog was my feminist pedagogies class with Sara last sem. I don't know why, but I found I had way more "examples" of fem ped and used the blog in this way...also the examples that peers and I blogged about invited more comments and discussion, because it was more "outside stuff" I guess. One thing that might have been helpful (both for in class and diablogging purposes) is if everyone was *required* to post at least one question about the readings--this might simply be a comment on one of the diablog posts--to help facilitators know what people want to discuss/what people were most interested in. Although I'm sure there are issues with making this a requirement, it would have been helpful. And besides, one question per week is not much...this would also make people have to visit the blog at least once a week and possibly invite more participation...?
But I also want to echo the comments made about time. I would have liked to have more time to engage in blog convos...this semester was just a lil hectic.
Oh yeah, I appreciated the class summary posts whether they were before or after class. With taking four classes and teaching one, I often went back and used these as a refresher.
Twitter is alright...
:)
@Mel Ha! Good point.
@reina Yeah, I think requiring weekly questions might have helped-- with a word limit. It can be overwhelming reading 300-400 word questions--which grad students are fond of writing:)