Blogging in Class

Today I added 25 blogs to the blogosphere, though I did have help from 25 students in my Intro to Electronic Media class. I went into class not knowing what to expect. Yes I did the usual walk through of how to create a blog on blogger.com or wordpress.com, but I did not really know what I would get. Every student emailed me a link to their blog after they created it in class. There was almost no time to review the blogs in class, so I went home and opened up my email account. Suffice it to say I was absolutely amazed. I now know more about my students after one week, than I usually know about them after a semester.

I had spent the morning surfing the web about educational theory, implementation of web 2.0 technologies and the inability of educational bureaucracies to adapt in a meaningful way to the 21^st century. I don’t want to say “who cares?”, because I care. But to all the educators out there wondering “Can I implement Web 2.0 into my classroom in a meaningful way?” the answer is a resounding - Yes! When can I do it? Now!

A special note to my students – You are astounding. If you don’t believe me just check out each other’s blogs at the link to our class wiki that I will post in class.

In the meantime here is a link to a video by created by Professor Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University. According to Professor Wesch, "this short video summarizes some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime." Think about how some of the descriptions and statistics might fit you, or someone you know.