Guidelines

Course Blog

One of the key aspects of your work this semester is our course blog, on which you will write frequently, using your posts to respond to our course readings, to draw your classmates’ attention to articles and artifacts you have found, and so forth.

The class will be divided into 4 groups, with all students rotating week-to-week from one role to the next.

First readers: These students are responsible for posting initial questions and insights about the day’s material to the class blog the day before class meets. These posting should be 200-300 words per post, following the guidelines for good blog posts (See Class Resources in LAMP), and is due by 11:55 pm each Wednesday.

Respondents:  Students in this group build upon, disagree with, or clarify the first readers’ posts by 11:55 pm each Sunday.

Searchers: Students in this group find and share at least one relevant online resource. In addition to linking to the resource, the searchers provide a short evaluation of the resource, highlighting what makes it worthwhile, unusual, or, if appropriate, problematic. This posting should be made by 11:55 pm each Sunday.

The fourth group has the week off in terms of blogging.

NOTE: This blog will be public, allowing others to read your posts and respond. If you wish to use an identifier other than your original name, discuss this with me.

Please see the narrated PowerPoint posted in LAMP for more detailed information regarding the roles and scheduling for the blog posts.

Learn more about blogs here: http://mduggan.edu.glogster.com/an-intro-to-blogging

WEEKS	GROUP 1*	GROUP 2	GROUP 3	GROUP 4
2	First readers	Responders	Searchers	Off
3	Off	First readers	Responders	Searchers
4	Searchers	Off	First readers	Responders
5	Off	Off	Off	Off
6	Responders	Searchers	Off	First readers
7	First readers	Responders	Searchers	Off
8	Off	Off	Off	Off
9	Off	First readers	Responders	Searchers
10	Spring break
11	Searchers	Off	First readers	Responders
12	Responders	Searchers	Off	First readers
13	First readers	Responders	Searchers	Off
14	Off	First readers	Responders	Searchers
15	Searchers	Off	First readers	Responders
*Groups will be assigned the first day of the semester.

Regardless of your role, late posts cannot be made up; if you miss your group role’s deadline, then you receive no credit for that week’s blog. All blog activity will be evaluated according to the following 0-4 point scale:

The blog posts will be evaluated according to the following 0-4 point scale:

RATING	CHARACTERISTICS
4	Exceptional. The blog entry is focused and coherently integrates examples with explanations or analysis. The entry demonstrates awareness of its own limitations or implications, and it considers multiple perspectives when appropriate. The entry reflects in-depth engagement with the topic.
3	Satisfactory. The blog entry is reasonably focused, and explanations or analysis are mostly based on examples or other evidence. Fewer connections are made between ideas, and though new insights are offered, they are not fully developed. The entry reflects moderate engagement with the topic.
2	Underdeveloped. The blog entry is mostly description or summary, without consideration of alternative perspectives, and few connections are made between ideas. The entry reflects passing engagement with the topic.
1	Limited. The blog entry is unfocused, or simply rehashes previous comments, and displays no evidence of student engagement with the topic.
0	No Credit. The blog entry is missing or consists of one or two disconnected sentences.