Student comments on the following items were culled from their blog entries reflecting about what they had learned on the course:
I feel like this is a good way to do coursework. I like the way that for any given writing assignment, the format is always going to be the same (double space, margin, other sutff). I also feel like this is a good way to do things because there’s no argument about whether or not people did assignments, we can just look in their blog and see what they did and when, spanning the whole semester. Takes a lot of hocus-pocus out of the grading process. I also liked the way that I needn’t leave my room to hand in a paper, when I’m done, no printing, no forgetting to staple.
The ability to post to a blog from anywhere at any time is extremely useful in a class situation
Blogging was the most interesting and ‘unique’ feature of the class; I honestly think that the blogging format is one of the biggest reasons people should take the class
The whole structure of the class, effectively built around blogging, was one of the highpoints of the course, and would not only recommend it continue to be used in CS182, but in other classes as well.
Writing for an audience, no matter who it is, is wonderful via blogging. It’s a much difference experience than writing on a forum, and the content is for the most part more engaging. I like this medium, a lot; I like that people can see what I write.
but a lot of concerns occur when a professor uses exclusively blogging. One problem is that Mark seemed to feel that since it was all accessible online that he could assign things with little explanation and warning.(Well, this guy can’t have been listening in class ..)
People could respond to what I wrote, not just people in the class but anyone who got too curious. It basically made me not want to suck at writing, which for anyone who ever has taken a CP, Seminar, or Humanities class knows just how easy it is to produce absolute rubbish. I was writing to an audience, not just the professor, and I care a lot more about my content if other people besides one are reading my work. Getting feedback was important to me, and it was instantaneous. In most other classes, you’re lucky to have a professor that even lets you peer edit as a part of the course. Though I usually end up with someone who procrastinates as much as I do. Feedback is an incredibly important process, but it can take a while to get it; with blogs, I got the feedback I needed when I needed it. My work was that much better because of it.
I think that if Mark had commented on people’s more, other students in the class wouldve been more apt to commenting on classmates more.(Good point)
I like trackbacks better than comments. A trackback stays in your own blog, so you can keep track of what you said. That is much better than comments, which stay in the other person’s blog.
Commenting was nice, I enjoyed reading peoples’ comments on my blog, and felt like I was able to offer useful advice at least 60% of the time. I definately got the hang of trackbacks. I won’t prove this skill, because that would be arrogant and showboaty of me. My tracking back is just that good. You wouldn’t believe it if you saw it. It might cause widespread panic if I tracked back. That’s just how good I am at it.
I absolutely adored the podcasting component of this class. Podcasting is very popular with those interested in technology’s impact/future, thus podcasting is perfect for a class designed around these topics. Furthermore, and, ultimately, more importantly, reading one’s own work out loud does wonders for interpreting and improving one’s own clarity. If my opinion counts for anything, I would actually recommend the use of podcasting in the Interpretive Practices/Earlham Seminar classes to achieve this very effect.
I enjoyed it and it made me think about my paper in new ways. If it was placed at the right spot in the writing process I believe it could help people think creatively about their work.
I definitely think the podcasting was a good idea; it could be a pain in the neck to get done, but it definitely improved the quality of the writing.
Podcasting definitely changed they way that i decided to write some of blog entries when i knew that we were going to be doing them.
Despite the insane number of catastrophes I had with recording, I liked doing podcasts. Now if only my voice wasn’t recorded I would really like them. I have always phoned people, or made my friends listen to papers as I write them to help me proof my papers. So the podcasts were just a natural continuation of that.