News & Events
August 25, 2004
Weblogs Help English T.A.s Spark Online Discussions with First Year Students
By Mike Wells, PhD Student, Department of English, UBC and Elizabeth Maurer, PhD Student, Department of English, UBC
In the fall of 2003, we teamed up with several other graduate students in UBC's English department who were looking for a way to develop a web presence. We needed a web tool that was adaptable yet simple enough to use without a lot of technical expertise. We found such a tool by joining a pilot project, hosted by the Office of Learning Technology (OLT), that provides free weblogs and support to UBC students, faculty and staff.
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We found that using the blog made many students more confident and prepared for in-class discussions. |
We were drawn to the idea of using weblogs as teaching tools because of their simplicity and versatility. A weblog , or blog, is essentially a web site, but its content is published in a series of "posts" that are organized by date, generally with the newest entry at the top of the page. To maintain a blog, extensive knowledge of HTML or authoring tools isn't needed, and anyone with a network connection can easily publish their content online. As we often said to new English department bloggers: "If you have the technical savvy to send and receive email, you can blog".
Blogging has been a good way to get the graduate students in our group online. It's allowed us to experiment with online community building and e-Learning at minimal cost and with minimal technical frustration. Seven students from the English department used their blogs to represent their academic interests , to build communities with other bloggers and academics, and even to promote a small Canadian press . We also used our blogs with our undergraduate students.
Blogging with First Year English Students
As Teaching Assistants (TA) in the first year English program (ENG 110, 111, 120, 121) we help provide an introduction to university-level English to hundreds of students every year. We used our blogs to communicate with and encourage more discussion among our students beyond our time in the classroom. Several of us asked our students to read our blogs between classes and post comments in response to our entries and to other students' comments. We then brought these responses into the classroom to jumpstart the weekly face-to-face discussions.
We found that using the blog made many students more confident and prepared for in-class discussions. There were some unexpected benefits as well. When students contributed to discussions online, they quickly realized that they weren't just writing for the teacher. Because of the public nature of the blog, which differs from discussion tools that are private such as in WebCT, students became aware that people from outside the class could read and comment on their contributions to the blog. They began to contribute with a broader audience in mind: not only were students writing for each other, they were potentially writing for everyone on the web.
The experience of blogging as an extension of our classroom activities provided us with an opportunity to reflect with our students on issues of audience, writing, and technology. It also turned out that the blog was a great way for students to get to know more about their TAs as scholars, as well as teachers. By putting our own research online, we could give students a better idea of what we do in the English department, and why it's valuable.
Current Blogging Challenges & Future Possibilities
We've now had the summer to reflect on our first forays into weblogging, and to think about the challenges we may face in future experiments. In June, we presented our experiences at the e-Strategy Town Hall , and our audience raised concerns about using blogs in the classroom and the increased potential for disruption and dishonesty, such as anonymous postings, spam, and plagiarism.
While we did encounter the odd spammer advertising their casino, we didn't experience problems with students copying others' online work, or with people posting anonymously or inappropriately. However, one concern we have is the possibility of students being caught in a digital divide, that is, students who can't afford the tools to engage effectively in e-Learning initiatives. While the university has some computer resources, they are in high demand, especially as more TAs and faculty members use e-Learning tools with their students.
Another challenge some of us will face is how best to make use of other communities of blogging students in our departments. We need to think about whether we want our students to read and respond to the discussions of students from last semester, or of students in other sections of our course, and what the benefits and pitfalls of this kind of inter-group discussion could be. We are curious to see how our understanding of "discussion groups" will change as the confines of the classroom no longer dictate the size and composition of those groups. We will address these kinds of concerns as more graduate students, and hopefully faculty, come on board this project.
As we continue to experiment with blogs as a means of enhancing the first year English experience, we'll have to decide to what extent we need to establish guidelines, if any, and how we can implement them without discouraging the innovation and creativity that blogging thrives on.
More Information
Contact: Elizabeth Maurer , Mike Wells
Links
About UBC's e-Strategy
UBC's e-Strategy enables students, faculty and staff to excel in one of the world's leading universities by enhancing learning, research and community through leading-edge technology initiatives.
e-Strategy is a guiding framework to align UBC's technology initiatives with the university's strategic goals. Activities include project development, information and resource sharing, and setting long terms goals for technology at UBC.
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Other stories from the August issue of e-Strategy Update :
Students and Faculty Enjoy Fewer Clicks and New Spell Checker With WebCT Upgrade
Students' IT Work Experience Offers UBC Valuable Lessons in e-Learning
New Features in Online Student Services Centre Makes 'Back to School' Simpler for UBC Students
Weblogs Help English TAs Spark Online Discussions with First Year Students
UBC Associate Vice President Elected Chair of National Internet Organization
New Coordinator Joins UBC's e-Portfolio Community of Practice
UBC e-Strategy Launches New Blog About Technology and Higher Education
Read Past Issues of e-Strategy Update
Tell us your e-Strategy story!
E-mail the e-Strategy team at
e-strategy@ubc.ca. |
