Rocking the Cyber Canoe: Blogging in English
Beth Lynne Ritter-Guth, Lehigh Carbon Community College
Abstract
In-class discussion always carries a mixed bag of responses. The three students who read the text dominate the conversation; the others just try to float under my radar. Discussing literature is crucial to understanding it, but reading it first is helpful. This struggle is the plight of English teachers and professors everywhere. Blogging, rooted in informality and instant access, has, literally, saved the day.
It is a typical Tuesday. Students filter into the classroom; they are careful to avoid my eyes. If she doesn’t see me, she won’t call on me. The students try to distract me. What will be on the final exam? Yes - the one three months from now. I peek out over my laptop and sheepishly grin…Soooo…did everyone enjoy reading Beowulf?
In-class discussion always carries a mixed bag of responses. The three students who read the text dominate the conversation; the others just try to float under my radar. Discussing literature is crucial to understanding it, but reading it first is helpful. This struggle is the plight of English teachers and professors everywhere. Blogging, rooted in informality and instant access, has, literally, saved the day.
Instead of spending class time pretending that students have read the material, I ask them to blog while they are reading. I do this to encourage active reading, but also to provide them some space to be comfortable as writers. I give them some guided questions, and I grade them only on the depth of their responses (I save my grammar and mechanics regiment for actual essays and papers). They receive 2 points for every original post and 2 points for every comment they make on the posts of others.
The response has been tremendous. Students seem so much more willing to blog in their own space and time. They seem less inhibited and more enthusiastic. For example, Potter was a mediocre student in an introductory honors literature course. He never did the reading, or, if he did, I had no way to tell. He was shy in class, and only spoke up when forced into the position. I only knew that he liked music, as I had to remind him, at least 50 times, to put his iPod away. For homework, I asked the students to blog about Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery. I didn’t expect much of a response from Potter, but, as it turns out, Potter loved to blog! This excerpt from his summary was more telling than anything he had said in class:
This story is about traditions. The town has a blind belief in a tradition that they know nothing about. The only thing they know is the winner gets stoned to death. They do not know why they do it. There is something wrong when people follow a tradition blindly. They do not understand the significance of it1.
In follow up comments, his fellow students were able to discuss more complex ideas. Why do people blindly follow tradition? What traditions do we follow blindly? When do people fight tradition? How? This conversation, generated by the quietest student in class, turned out to be one of the most valuable - both in class and on the blog. I followed up in class, and all of the students had something to share. We were able to return to the text and extract examples; we were able to analyze the text from various literary criticism perspectives. In short, we were filling the dream of every literature teacher and professor out there.
I was so impressed by the success of this blog that I created one for every class - even my online classes. I generally host about 25 students, and I teach rhetoric and comp, technical writing, introductory literature, women’s literature, British Literature I and II, and women’s studies. I’ve learned a great deal, and hope that this adventure is worthy as an example to others. Some initial observations:
Know the Lingo! If you are an innovative educator, you know the lingo. But, sometimes, it is good to review. For example, audio is only a podcast if it can be loaded onto a pod or an MP3 player. Otherwise, it is just audio :)
- Podcasting: Creating audio files to upload onto an MP3 player or into iTunes
- Vodcasting: Creating video files for uploading onto a video iPod
- Screencasting: Creating a screen capture and preparing it in formats for a video iPod
- Blogs: Web logs that pile one entry on top of an old one.
- Wiki: A website that can be edited by many.
Check out Examples! It is always good to see how others use this technology. If you are interested, here is a link to my Women’s Literature Blog. If you are interested in checking out a great Chemistry blog, click here.
Gather the Goods! I like to use open source programs because our students don’t have the money to buy to expensive programs. Some of the tools I use:
- Audacity (free podcasting software)
- Camtasia (screencasting software - requires license)
- Camstudio (free screencasting software)
- SKYPE (free long distance chat)
- YouTube (free hosting for video)
- Flickr (free hosting or pictures)
- Vyew (free collaborative workspace)
- Blogspot/Blogger (blog software that allows RSS feed)
- Wikispaces (wiki space that is not confused with an encyclopedia)
- Bloglines: This RSS housing agent keeps your feeds up to date.
Be Brave! Not every English professor agrees with blogging; in fact, many do not agree with open access social software. I am surprised by the criticism of colleagues. Evidently, not everyone wants to float to Camelot in the cyber canoe. I decided, early on, that I would have to rock the canoe and use blogs, or I needed to get out of the canoe and stick to in-class discussions. Since staying in the tower was doing nothing for my students, I decided to “loose the chains” and allow the use of blogs in my class. Using blogging as a teaching tool may be controversial, but, really, it is worth the effort. Note: Some K-12 districts do not allow the use of blogs; be sure to check with your administrators!
Understand Techno-peasantry. Not all students are computer savvy. Even though many students are pretty savvy about downloading music or searching the internet, they aren’t necessarily skilled at blogging. In the face-to-face class, I use an LCD to walk them through the process. In the entirely online classes, however, it was hard to provide instructions on how to set up a blog from a team invitation. I use Blogger because I can podcast from there. Unfortunately, the invitation screen is a little complicated to explain to a group of students I do not see. It is important to be clear and, if possible, be available to help students. Some tips:
- Use Camstudio or Camtasia to screencast directions; create a link within the blog (and add it to the wiki). Here is an example of a screencast I put together for evaluating web resources.
- Provide Screenshots to help guide students; you can post them right into the blog. Here is an example of a screen shot for a game I use to teach grammar to developmental students.
- Create a systematic instructions sheet to help guide students using Word.
Create a Wiki Wonderland! Connect each blog to a corresponding Wiki. A Wiki is an easily updated website. I use it to house all of my materials (lecture notes, links, handouts). Wikis are nice because they are simple and require not html knowledge. You can visit my main wiki at www.collegeenglish.wikispaces.com.
Set the Standard! Be clear about assessment. I give students points for participation, but I do not grade grammar. I only give points, though, for thoughtful responses. A response like “that’s cool” is not good enough to receive points. If possible, provide students with a grading rubric.
Mix-n-match! Use a combination of approaches. In addition to posting academic prompts, I also post up fun prompts or links to fun stuff. I like to think of the blog as the cafeteria; it is part of the college, but it is where all the “real” learning takes place. Engage students on multiple levels, and they will become comfortable sharing ideas.
Read the posts! Students are proud of their work and will refer to it. Since they are putting so much work into it, I feel compelled and interested in following up. I post comments, ask deeper questions, or just give praise. Students soak up professor attention, so give it freely! The frustration, of course, is that many of us teach a lot of students. I use bloglines.com to organize my blog, so that I can just check for updates.
Link to the posts! I use a wiki to organize and open source all of my materials. If a student has a particularly strong post, I will ask permission to link it to the wiki. Students are proud of their work, and they appreciate recognition. This request helps them to take ownership of their work.
Blogging is an awesome teaching tool. My students no longer fear Tuesday discussion; I no longer have to scan the room hoping for a pulse. Instead, I hear conversations like this:
Dude; did you see what Lauren wrote about Omelas?
Yeah, I think she is right on, man. I mean, really, who would let some little kid suffer like that?
Oh, I don’t know; lots of people suffer in third world countries so we can have cheap sneakers.
No, man, that’s different.
Really, why?
