In this class you are expected to keep a web journal or blog that is worth 15% of your final grade. Please see the Q & A below for an explanation of blogging and how you should blog in this class.

Q: What is a blog?

A blog is short for a web-log. A blog is an on-line journal or diary. In recent years, blogs have become an important form of internet publication that people use to make friends, or intervene in public debates. Some blogs have become so influential that they have shaped and impacted the national news media by breaking rumors, news stories and keeping a political discussion going long enough for it to be noticed nationally. Here’s a good article on the history of blogging.

Q: How is a blog different from a webpage?

A blog is a webpage, but the blogger (author) does not have to know any special computer code to publish on his or her blog. Your professor used to have a personal webpage etc., but he has switched to a personal blog because he doesn’t want to hassle with the technical requirements of accesing a server or anything of that nature. Secondly, blogs are designed to be interactive. Bloggers post their writings on their blogs and then other bloggers who read them may leave comments on the original blog. Imagine that a blog is a bulletin board where you post your thoughts, and that people are walking by and posting little notes under your note, responding to what you said.
Q: Are blogs free?

Some blogging programs are free, others are not. BLOGGER provides free blogs with a variety of attractive designs, so does WORDPRESS, and EDUBLOGS.

Q: How hard is it to blog?

The whole point of a blog is to facilitate internet publication. Free blogging programs on the web will walk you through the sign up process. Just write down your logon (which may be your name or a nickname, for example) and your password so you don’t forget it. You will be asked to select a template or a design for your blog (please note how all of my course blogs have a different design and color, etc.) Then you can be begin posting. It may take some playing around but you will figure it out quite quickly. And if you mess it up, you can always delete what you’ve published.

Q: How many blogs can I have in BLOGGER or WORDPRESS?

As many as you like! If you decide that you hate blogging, at the end of the semester you can delete your blog and never blog again. If you like it, you can keep it and start as many blogs as you like, about anything you want. If you want readers, however, you need to do more than just write.

Q: What do you expect from me and my blog? How will I be evaluated?

I expect you to start a blog account and send me the address to it so that I can put a link on the central coursepage (the address of my personal blog is http://cconway.edublogs.org, your address should be sent to me in this form.)

Blogs will be graded in three, unannounced installments. At the beginning of the semester, students will turn their blog address to me and I will create a list of links to all student blogs on this central course page. Three times during the semester I will check these links, evaluate each student’s blog or web journal and give them a score of 1-100. This grade is not based on any one post but on all the posts on the student blog up until my unannounced visit. Students should strive to write strong posts once or twice a week and to visit one or two of other class blogs and leave comments. Please note: posting once a week is more than enough if you do it well, twice is good if you get into the assignment and enjoy the medium, but you will not automatically get more points for posting more than once a week.

Typically, a good or excellent blog post need not be very long. It can be as short as 250 words and as long as 600 words. Writing long posts when you don’t have so much to say will compromise the quality of the post.

A good or excellent post can be personal, but it is always analytical. It presents a point of view and the basis for that point of view.

A good or excellent post, on ocassion, may include links to other blog posts by classmates, so that the author may dialogue with another student in his/her post. Also, it may include links to websites of interest or blogs by people outside of the class. However, students should avoid an excess of linking to other sites to the detriment of a substantial presence of critical thinking and reflection in their own posts.

When possible, students are encouraged to experiment and include pertinent and appropriate images or videos on their blog. Podcasting is also acceptable, even as a substitute to some or all written posts, if students know how to record their own mp3’s and are comfortable with the technical aspects of posting them on their blog. This is optional.

Below is some more information on the grading of this assignment, which will be done in three installments, each one worth 5% of your final grade and adding up to 15% of your final grade:

90-100 Excellent. Outstanding. – For blogs that contain one to two substantial posts per week. These posts are original, thoughtful and reflective. They demonstrate a high level of engagement with the course themes and texts. Moreover, the student bloggers receiving a grade in this range are leaving comments on one or two other blogs by their classmates. Their comments demonstrate that they are serious readers of the reflections of their classmates.

80-90. Good Work. –For blogs that contain one to two substantial posts per week. These posts are original, thoughtful and reflective. They demonstrate engagement with the course themes and texts but with room for improvement.

75. Average. – For blogs that contain one to two posts per week of uneven quality or detail. These posts show some effort with a great deal of room for improvement.

60. Unacceptable.
Privacy Issues.

Blogging is public writing. By posting on your blog, you are putting your ideas on the internet. If the blog is in your name (yourname.blogspot.com for example) then people in China will know what you think about the subjects you are blogging about. Therefore, always conduct yourself accordingly. You are speaking publicly.

You are welcome to use a pseudonym and blog under that name. That way you can protect your privacy. Naturally, you are required to tell me your pseudonym. I will not divulge it to your classmates.

Also, some blog service providers have a setting in which you can stipulate that your blog not be searched by google and other search engines. This will facilitate your privacy greatly even if you are not using a pseudonym. Look for that setting if you decide you want to make your blog as private as possible. If privacy is a concern, I simply recommend using a pseudonym.

Please keep in mind that this is an academic assignment with some ground rules: no inappropriate comments will be permitted. You are only to use this blog to talk about the course material.

Q: Besides meeting your requirements, why is this good for me?

Blogs are revolutionizing education and mass communication. As educators and intellectuals, you should be familiar with this medium and its potential, even if you choose never to use it again.

Q: How do I start?

Start your blog using any of the services linked above. You may want to play around with more than one to decide which one you’re more comfortable with. As soon as your blog is up and running, send me your blog address via email so that I can make a link to it from our main course blog. If you decide to use a pseudonym, send me your pseudonym as well. I will not disclose it.

Pseudonyms should be somewhat respectable (no sexy boy or el macho máximo or any such silly nonsense–this is an academic assignment).