Profs choose blogs over Blackboard

Capitalizing on the rising popularity of blogs, students and professors at the University are replacing the stodgy and sometimes inflexible Blackboard software with interactive weblogs for their course postings.

Blogs allow users to easily post content online, without having to know all about web software, Michael Muzzie, OIT digital media consultant, said.

Edward Felten, a professor of computer science and director of the Center of Information Technology has taught two courses using blogs. In his course WWS 528F: Information Technology & Public Policy last spring, students were expected to write a weekly entry of about 500 words.

"One advantage of blogs is students see each others' writing," Felten said. "It gives them an idea of what their peers are producing and see the standard and style of writing. It has advantages over the alternative of having a weekly essay, which doesn't lead to discussion."

To appeal to this type of professor, OIT has created a blog hosted by the University. Muzzie, one of its three developers, said he hoped to create a system for professors to create websites without knowing technical lingo.

"Because publishing the information with a blog is much easier, you tend to focus more on quality content than focusing on the nuts and bolts of the software," he said.

Many courses in the Chemistry and Near Eastern Studies departments, Writing Center and Wilson School, already use the OIT blog.

Felten, however, maintains his own blog and said he tends not to use Blackboard in his courses.

"I find it is kind of inflexible. Blogs are easier for people to read. It's customized for this kind of application where people write on a regular basis," he said.

Jeffrey Dwoskin, a fourth year graduate student who took Felten's course, said he thought the use of a blog in the course gave students the opportunity to write more well-thought-out posts.

"It really enhanced the classroom discussion because we could go back and research new materials," Dwoskin said. "We got to comment on each others posts, which created real dialogue between the students."

The OIT blog service, which has been available in its present form since fall 2005, currently runs nearly 300 blogs, all limited to use in academic work.

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"We're trying to stay away from personal blogs from students," Muzzie said. "We're just offering this to professors, classes and organizations."

Stuart Carter '08, has used the new feature and said that the website improved his classroom experience by allowing students to take more ownership of their ideas.

"Students feel less inhibited about putting their ideas out there and as a result, the number of ideas presented and their depth seem to increase," Carter said.

OIT plans to eventually integrate the new blogs with the Blackboard course software.

"We're trying to find the best way to use Blackboard and the blog software cooperatively," Muzzie said. "Blackboard is more for a professor to provide info about a course whereas blogs are more of a personal publishing software."

Another key difference is that student postings are now accessible on the internet.

"Students found they were being indexed very high on Google and were excited that their work was out there for the world to see," Muzzie said.