News & Events

Town hall 2004
Program and Schedule

2:30 – 3:30 pm | Room 1221

More Than Just an Online Diary: Using Weblogs as a Teaching Tool
Elizabeth Maurer, PhD student, Department of English, UBC

Karen Selesky, PhD candidate, Department of English, UBC
Michael Wells, PhD candidate, Department of English, UBC

Topic Area: People, e-Learning, e-Community
Presentation format: Seminar

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Weblogs are often thought of as a kind of online diary, but they can also be used to enhance teaching. Their ease of use, low cost, interactivity, searchibility, and linear organizational structure make them an attractive alternative to regular instructional websites or WebCT.

This presentation will report on a graduate student-initiated trial use of weblogs by a group of UBC English Department Teaching Assistants. It will appeal to those interested in exploring the blog as a teaching tool, integrating blogs with lecture and seminar classes, or to those interested generally in how technology may be changing learning communities. This presentation will combine discussion of pedagogical issues and strategies with demonstrations from the presenters' own teaching blogs.

We will outline how the weblog can be designed to meet different pedagogical goals, for example increased classroom participation or greater involvement with communities outside the classroom. Adopting this new tool requires thinking through some theoretical questions. What are some possibilities for the relationship between the face-to-face classroom experience and the weblog class activity? How do the instructor's role and responsibilities change in weblog activity versus in face-to-face teaching? What are the implications of the blog’s public nature?

Using the blog is also more rewarding with some knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the tool and a set of practical strategies to draw on. In response to the presenters' own experiments over the semester, the presentation will also suggest particular strategies for managing possible challenges or opportunities, and for incorporating weblog activity into the face-to-face classroom.

Town Hall 2004

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