Academic Blogging

While posting to my blog over the past nine months I found the process to be an excellent method to think about what I read and the way I run my classes.  After I read an article I reflect on what I learned and how it applies to my prior knowledge and experiences.  This process is valuable for enhancing what I remember and to build upon what I know.

I came across a great article today expressing this same concept for the use of blogs in the classroom.  I really liked the idea of the free-range blogging where students reflect on the course material and are graded on participation.  In this type of blogging students are evaluated on their quality of reflection and comments to other students blogs rather than right or wrong answers posted in the blog.

Academic blogging could help my students better apply the material and enable students to learn from each other as they read and comment on each others blogs.  I think I will try this out with my graduate students this spring and, if it works well, try it out in an undergraduate class in the fall.  I'm optimistic that this will really help students become more engaged with the course material.