Educ 6115 - Week 1

I have to be honest, I have known about blogs for quite some time but never wanted to create one. I really do not have that interesting of stuff in my life for me to think that others would want to read about me. So week 1 of this new class for 6115 and here's my first blog.
Of the three blogs given in the optional resources section, only two work properly. Both are explaining different ways to learn and use the internet as a resource. One blog immediately jumped out at me; The Methods and Means to grading Student Participation in Online Discussions (http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/the-methods-and-means-to-grading-student-participation-in-online-discussions/). Since that has been the center of my graduate education thus far, I decided this was a great starting point. I was pleasantly surprised to see this blog was from the instructor's point of view. This would be great insight into how online professors grade my discussion posts. It mentions that rubric is the basis for grading. It spells out in large print what exactly is expected from a student when he or she posts. It also informs the student on what percentage of their grade is posting discussions. Asking questions and responding to others posts are crucial to the creativity of the discussion. Therefore, points are awarded or subtracted based on the students' participation. Lastly, the timing of the posts. If there are tardy posts, thats an easily subtracted point.
Another blog I liked was Social Media in Education: Twitter being used in Arts and Sciences Courses (http://professorjosh.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/social-media-in-education-twitter-being-used-in-arts-and-sciences-courses/). This is an area of contention in the building I teach. A new policy is drafted to utilize social media as part of the curriculum. After reading the blog, I would not like to use Twitter in the classroom. I think this way, not because of what the blogger wrote, but when I put myself into the situation, I became uncomfortable. Mixing my social life with my work like is not a good idea. I have a ton of buddies who cuss like sailors, and post some pretty graphic pictures as jokes. If someone were to see that on the same twitter account as I'm asking students to view, that would put me out of a job. I know there is option B; Create a new twitter name and account and keep them separate.
Lastly, I noticed there was a blog about gaming in education, which sounded fun so I read Gaming the First-Year Composition Course (http://remixingcollegeenglish.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/gaming-the-first-year-composition-course/). The blogger describes why he likes to add games to his classroom. Some of the games go so far as to have leaderboards and cheat-code walkthroughs. He also explains how using a portfolio system relaxes tensions about failure.



I always assumed blogs were for nerds and soccer moms, but after viewing several of them, they are growing on me. I see that most are just ideas and people's thoughts in print [not exactly] on the internet. This allows people gain information for free from the comfort of their own home. An interesting concept that has over 35 million users. I am curious about the idea of blogging, and will have my work cut out for me to get rid of my 'Noob' status.