I realize that many folks may have a hard time seeing exactly how a blog might be used in a classroom setting. Just providing a list of possible blog uses may not be enough for some to experience 'a lightbulb moment'. Real-world examples can provide more detail or spark more possible ideas than just a listing of possibilities...

I was prowling through McGee's students' blogs regularly, anxious to see what came out of that public attempt. I got some interesting takeaways from his students' struggles with the medium and the technology. First, getting them over the initial technology hurdle is still a major issue -- installation and configuration should not be taken lightly.

For a smaller (that's less than 100 students for me, heh) class, I would ask four or five students to take the (rotating) role of class recorders [update: that's four or five in that role per class meeting, for more complete coverage, and rotate that role among all students in the class], and to post their notes for each class meeting. Jeb Trowbridge's post for the 30 April 2002 class is a nice example. It covers the chronology nicely, and still clearly shows his own voice. As an instructor, being able to triangulate how the students received what I thought was delivered would be invaluable. It would also allow me to review or reattempt material that was not clear to the students (I would also ask that any student should post about any topic or point that was still unclear when they left the classroom).

I would also be asking the rest of the students to be providing their takeaways from that class meeting. Here are Mark Kaczkowski's takeaways from the 30 April 2002 class, for instance. Contrast Mark's style of reporting takeaways with Greg Harmeyer's for the 17 April 2002 class. Being able to read the students takeaways (or connections to other/prior classes' material) would be exciting, and might allow me to bring in points I might not have otherwise considered, either directly in class or by pointing to their posts.

To Jim and his students, thanks for the chance to view your efforts. I learned a lot just watching all y'all.

10:56:19 PM  [] blah blah blah'd on this