[etugblogs] Re: case studies; communications mechanisms
- From: "Scott Leslie" <leslies@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <etugblogs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 09:13:37 -0700
> 1. I'm not currently teaching math but designing a math course
> (part online, part F2F, computer labs, etc.) which will be taught
> next term.
o.k., sorry, no problem - if you all can send me your bios (and anything
you'd like to see in this intro if it's different) I'll re-draft with that
info. This was just my stab in the dark.
> 2. Re the marked bit, and the corresponding bit on the wikki: I
> don't *have* an example/case study - as I said before, my blogging is
> only for myself; I don't use it in teaching. So I don't know what you
> guys expect here .... And it's not just "the applicability of blogs
> in her own discipline" that I'm sceptical about, it's the whole idea
> of using blogs at all for teaching as currently hyped. So maybe
> change the "in her discipline" to "in university teaching"?
There's a large number of examples of blog use in classes we could choose to
use as a case study here; it absolutely doesn't have to be ones' own. I
threw your name down beside one (Brian actually suggested the 'Blogs and
Wikis' course at Bermidji State University, Minnesota
http://ferret.bemidjistate.edu/~morgan/cgi-bin/blogsandwiki.pl?Entry_Point
as the example) just to get something down. You're absolutely not on the
hook for this and if you don't want to lead one that's fine. I think 2
'examples' could be just fine as we're already proposing tons of other
material. As I said in the email to Crawford yesterday, I was hoping in a
case study for the lead to write up a post that pointed to the example,
described how blogs were being used in the course, and then add their
perspective on it's utility or what they thought could be done differently.
It doesn't have to be authoritative, just something to seed a discussion and
help illustrate how the technology might (or shouldn't) be used. That said,
I think there's lots of room to criticize as well and make a case that the
technology was not particularly a good choice for that use/that course. It's
up to you whether you want to do one of these or not. Let me know and we can
work on finding a meaty example.
> PS1. We now have four online fora going to support this project: 2
> blogs, an email list and now a wikki. I'm sending this to the email
> list, as it's the easiest to work with (and is "push technology", so
> no-one has to think to go look at it).
Cripeys, don't I know it! Sorry about that. From my perspective I thought
the Prototype site had served it's purpose (to prove the concept and allow
us to try it out a bit) and so I assumed it would be shelved, but if you
think differently let me know.
I had assumed we were going to go with the
http://etugblog.typepad.com/blogtalk/ site for the actual 2 week talk, but
again that's just my assumption, please tell me if anyone has different
ideas.
I didn't actually expect us to use the blog site a whole lot before the
discussion started on October 6 - we can, but I set up the mailing list in
the hopes of pushing messages to each other and therefore keeping the
conversation going more quickly.
The wiki is in play only in as much as it allows anyone (you all included)
to edit it on the spot, so seemed like an easy place to plan out the
structure of the 2 week discussion. It has absolutely no role, in my mind,
during the two week discussion - it's just an administrative tool like this
[ETUGBLOG] mailing list. In my mind the wiki and the mailing list are the
two forums to use over the next few days leading up to the discussion.
> PS2. Brian's statement (wikki): "I think we need to make a case for
> using weblogs ... a screenshot ... might be a good early hook ...".
> Once again, is the purpose of this exercise to *promote* weblog use?
> If so, warning: I have an almost visceral reaction to what I perceive
> to be hype, and automatically go into anti-hype mode to deflate it.
> You have been warned! :o)
I have no problem at all with your statement. I see the discussion being
about exposing people to blog technology and concepts, and investigating how
(and whether at all) it can be used in educational contexts, not about
advocating for it's use. That said, if we are all starting from the point
that there are *no* applications for blogs in education, that will be a very
short conversation ;-) I also think that particular position not very
strong - there are obviously *some* uses for blogs in education as one can
point to a large number of examples where they are actual being used.
Whether these are appropriate uses/effective uses, are, I think, really
useful issues for discussion and debate, and this is precisely the kind of
discussion and perspective that I've been hoping this group, with their
experience and insight into this technology, could bring to ETUG.
Hope this helps, cheers, Scott.
Other related posts:
- » [etugblogs] Re: case studies; communications mechanisms
