goals for this work and my course
The blog for PHIL 151, Introduction to Logic, will have a set of categories, which will look like the table of contents of an introductory logic textbook. Clicking on the topics will open up “chapters” where they will find things like lecture notes on concepts, exercises for homework, and power point presentations. The blog will also have buttons through which students access their group blogs.
I plan to assign students in sets of four or five to working groups. These students will be talking to each other all semester in a group blog. The group blog will be for collaborative work toward understanding and mastering distinctions, concepts, techniques, and skills. It will be a place where they discuss their opinions about questions or exercises; where they comment on others’ answers to questions or exercises; where they discuss the course content with each other; where they work together to figure out a solution to assigned problems; etc. For instance, after the first day of class, they will all be assigned to read chapter 6 of Through the Looking Glass, and to comment on what logically relevant distinction Carroll is making by his use of punctuation. They will also be asked to say what Humpty Dumpty’s theory of (proper) names is, and whether they agree with it, and why. Word limit to this entry: 200. They can comment on others’ entries, but before doing so, each has to compose his or her own response to these questions.
My goals for the course are:
a) at a general level, eliminate the need for and use of a textbook by publishing my own course materials on line; more specifically,
b) develop collaborative learning exercises and assignments that students can participate in through group blogs;
c) develop some software for interactive problem solving (such as truth tables and proofs).
It sounds like you have a number of good ideas for the use of a class blog in PHIL 151, and I hope the project works out well.
Your discussion of how the blog will facilitate some of the operations that are “clunkier” in Blackboard leads me to wonder . . . when might it be better to use Blackboard vs. the blog and vice-versa? I see how the blog facilitates conversation, but is it as effective for posting content? Your comments about the problem you had posting powerpoint slides to the blog raise this issue. And if one manages a class by using both Blackboard and a blog (like the kinds we’re are experimenting with), does that become too much for everyone? These are topics that, perhaps, our ITSs will be able to help us unravel.
Any thoughts on how to “enforce” the interaction rule — one can comment only after making a post of their own?
The word limit is an interesting idea for your class blog, and one I’ll respect by signing off before I reach 200!
Comment by John Morello — September 26, 2006 @ 8:32 pm
Oh, Chapter 6 of Alice. Seems like I’ve read about that before.
I agree with John, if I interpret his question about blog vs blackboard as a comment. A blog isn’t too great as a presentaiton tool. Some sort of Web page package or content management system is what you ned.
Comment by ernie — September 27, 2006 @ 7:31 pm
Craig,
Thanks for sharing this summary of what you hope to accomplish.
In the short-term, I would encourage you to not get too bogged down in thinking about what you want to do in terms of the blog and it’s funcationality.
Instead, it might be useful to focus on the needs you have and the goals you’re trying to accomplish. One goal you seem to have is to develop an online learning environment that will enable students to discuss topoics from class with each other and collborate on solutions to problems. This could take the form of a WordPress learning environment or perhaps there’s another tool (or set of tools) that we’ll be able to help you identify. Don’t get too bogged down at this point with what a blog (or Wordpress) *can* do; let’s talk instead about what you *want* to do.
As for the use of WordPress vs. Blackboard, our goal is always to help faculty find tools that will meet there needs in the most elegant, usable way possible. I’d never encourage someone to use a blog for something that Blackboard is perfectly capable of handling.
At the same time, I feel pretty confident that we could get Wordpress to handle file uploads in an elegant enough fashion that you wouldn’t feel like Blackboard would have been a better bet. . .and you could then have the added funcationalities that Wordpress affords.
And I’ve gone way over the 200 word limit. Sorry!
Comment by Martha Burtis — September 29, 2006 @ 3:52 pm