A: I have different uses for blogging.
For instance, I run a student reading and writing group. These are former students (or current students with some directed talent for writing) who meet with me once a week as a group. Out of that, we launched the 90-in-90 challenge, to see if they could do what writers do: write every day. For that, there is no grade because there is no class.
In my social media class, we uses Wikis for response and feedback. They are given very loose instructions: respond to the reading and respond to at least one other person. They have a basic structure for responding, but I simply grade them on whether they have completed the assignment (which means a complete and well-written response).
I generally don’t use blogs in my news and magazine writing classes. It’s important for them to learn the basic skills of reporting and I’ve found, having tried to integrate these other tech skills, that my students get over-whelmed by learning a new writing form and a new kind of technology.
In my ethics class, we use Wikis for group work (they write papers and make presentations each week). These are un-graded spaces (although I can watch how they evolve) because I am not interested in grading their thinking. Just the final product. However, we do discuss their “learning spaces” in class to help others get ideas for how to better use the technology.
