Blogs in the classroom
So I have committed the cardinal sin of blogging: I have not updated as often as I would like. As anyone who does this blogging thing knows, once you stop having regular updates...people stop coming. Kind of like website design..if it doesn't work once, most people are not going to give you a second chance. It's tough out there.
But I promise I have a good excuse. School is starting (very) soon, and I have been knee deep preparing for that. But in the midst of all that, thinking about my inability to update every 2-3 days (my goal that I'm sure I won't be able to keep) has led to some ides about blogs and their role in the classroom. I know that many others in the 'blogosphere' are very interested in this, and some very interesting ideas have been floated around. Even on the U of MN host that this blog is brought to you from, there are numerous classes and other instructors who talk about assignments on blogs and so forth. But, once again, a lot of times technology is being used in the wrong place under the wrong circumstances. For instance, yeah it is great to have students post assignments on a blog. But by doing this, you really aren't "blogging." It is no different than a student posting something on WebCT, or...in all honesty, just handing it to you. The only difference is everyone has to go through the hassle of doing all of this online. Really…and I mean this sincerely…why bother?
Two things are happening here. Once again we're seeing people rush to use technology for the sake of using technology. In doing so, we're forgetting why the technology exists in the first place as we strip it of its inherent functionality so that it may "fit" in a controlled classroom.
In addition to that, on a more fundamental level, many instructors are forgetting that much of this new technology exists and functions in a world that is often a stark contrast from what goes on inside a classroom.
This isn't to discourage people from using blogs. As I'll discuss in a moment, there is an incredible amount of potential with blogs and the like. But the barrier to using this sort of technology, as with many other kinds, is a pedagogical barrier.
While I'm inclined to agree that the pure, traditional lecture where a professor simply talks at the students who sit quietly and take notes is in a long overdue decline, what is replacing it isn't quite what people seem to think it is.
I'm talking about the recitation model of classrooms. In a lecture, students are asked to listen. In a recitation, students are asked to speak. While superficially, this might seem like a complete reversal of the old instruction paradigm, if you scratch the surface a little you'll find that for a student, it is pretty much more of the same.
I am not going to argue that the recitation model is worse than the lecture. In fact, I think it is a good step in the right direction. But what is happening with the recitation is that while it is true that students are speaking, what is not true is that they are interacting with each other. Students speak in a recitation section to appease or satisfy the instructor. In a sense, they are acting to an audience of one. They have to, because the instructor is the sole authority when it comes to structure of the class, assignments, and grades.
Don't believe me? Try this little experiment in your head (I don't believe it is necessary to actually try this in a class). Ask you students to write a 5 page paper about what they really think of you personally. Tell them that this is no different than any other assignment and that you'll be giving them a grade for it. Of course, you'll be looking for thoughtfulness and completeness of ideas, grammatical correctness, and overall ingenuity and creativity.
Well, it doesn't take a psychologist to imagine what would happen. Of course, all students are going to write with the intended audience in mind. Since you hold the authority for what is quality, YOU as the instructor become that audience. They're going to write to you, for you. Does anyone really think that an instructor would get what is really going on in their minds?
The same thing happens in "discussion." Since blogs are, in their essence, a form of discussion, the same thing happens on a blog when students are forced (and yes, the term "forced" is appropriate here) to turn in assignments over a blog. Even though students are writing on the web where others could see what is being written, they are not writing with that audience in mind. They are writing with you, the instructor, in mind. This negates any positive benefits that could be had from posting things on a blog. Even worse is when instructors grade students on how many comments they put on other blogs. Forced discussion is just that: forced. It is not educative in the true sense of the word.
So how can these things work? For those of us who participate in this blogosphere, the term "blogosphere" holds the key to understanding just what principles we should be looking for if we are wanting to include blogging in our instructional arsenal.
For blogging in the classroom to work, it has to mimic the real world situation as closely as possible. Even better, instead of mimicking it, it should actually participate in it.
This is what I mean: Ever notice that when you know other people are reading and discussing what you write, there is an ever increasing motivation/desire/need/whatever to write more and to make sure what you write is of high quality? Honestly, no one who takes blogging seriously wants to look like an idiot in front of our peers in the blogosphere.
Yeah, there's that word again: blogosphere. The reason blogs work is because they exist in a community of ideas, a group of peers to read and discuss each other's thoughts. When I write an entry, I am writing to a large group of peers, not to one single authority figure. There is a great deal of motivation to be mined here.
Also, your readership influences your interests. There is a reason this blog has become very tech orientated over the past month or so. That is because there has been more interest in tech related entries than anything else. Consequently, I find myself being pushed to write more tech orientated entries because that is where the most interesting conversations are taking place.
Ideally, the peer group that students enter into when blogging should be bigger than the class they are in. This could mean getting together with other classes (maybe even across the country or even the world) or just existing in the real world. The point is, to unlock the motivation of having to stay on top of it because others are depending on your ideas, you have to have a community of peers. If the only person reading a blog is the instructor, or other students who are forced to read it, the things that make the blogosphere really work are not in action.
To break it down, in the actual blogosphere motivation for quality is located in the peer network. Motivation for writing on a particular topic over another is also located in the peer network. In contrast, most instructors who use blogs in the classroom locate the motivation for quality in the instructor-as-authority / student relationship (or, as I like to say…master / servant). Additionally, topics are chosen by content decisions that are out of the student's control. This begs and answers the question: When is a blog not really a blog? When it is in a classroom.
Maybe someday I'll think through some actual examples as this is just the groundwork, but I'll toss out an idea I've been playing with: Say you're teaching a class on urban studies. Why not partner up with an instructor who is teaching a similar class but in a very geographically different area. If you teach in a rural setting, find an instructor in an urban setting. And while yes, you'll have to give the students a little nudge, the very difference in both situations should lead to some sort of conversation and topic development. And, since no one really wants to look dumb in front of a community, students will be driven by this motivation to stay on top of things and contribute at a high level of quality.
Technology can be effective in the classroom. But for it to work, it has to pull its own weight. It has to exist on its own terms. It has to be used for its own reasons and not the instructor's reasons. And when it is not, it becomes an unnecessary burden on both the instructor and student. I think we can all agree that the last thing students and instructors need are burdens that are not needed.