from Judith McDaniel  

Cultivating Learning

          An important part of my face-to-face classes now is to allow students a research choice of creating a blog site and posting their research on it for public comment.  Since actually getting the “public” to comment on a blog, even on exciting and current topics like “Is there a gay gene?” or “Is Gardasil a good thing or not?” is nearly impossible, I require everyone in the class to post comments on three different blogs other than their own. 
          As I read through the posts, comments and author responses to the comments, I am reminded over and over again that I am not the only person in this classroom with important information.  Each of these students has life experience and some have knowledge that is relevant to this subject.  From the student with a gay friend, to the young woman who was given the Gardasil vaccine without being told what it was, their information is pertinent and—most importantly—it is very important to and valued by their peers.  They ask questions in these comments as well as responding to the information, and some of the conversations that result are far more intellectually demanding than the course syllabus. 
            I still allow a research option that is “just” a traditional research paper.  But for the first time, I am asking everyone who chooses to write an essay to post it on our discussion forum for comments.  Everyone in the class must now also post a comment about two research papers.  I’m curious to see if the results are similar to the blog comments.
          Check back for more information after grading is done!

Tags: hybrid classes, online learning, online learning; benefits of online learning; overcoming fear of speaking, tools for teaching online

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.