What is a blog? A web log, or "blog," is a web-based communication tool. Weblogs can be used as online journals or advanced discussion spaces. The blog environment available through CNDLS is based on Geeklog, an open source, widely-used blogging tool. CNDLS refined Geeklog into a tool specifically designed for classroom use, and it has worked well in a variety of courses since the spring 2004 semester.

Why should I use a blog in my course? Blogs can foster student interaction by allowing virtually unlimited response-time in a non-confrontational forum, encouraging students to participate thoughtfully in class discussion, and can also serve as informal spaces for publishing research. The blogging environment provides an online alternative to the sort of threaded discussion environment like that found in Blackboard. It allows for chronologically organized posts by both students and professors, and faculty have used it in both large lecture classes and in smaller, discussion-based classes.

Using a blog can provide answers, or insight, to following questions about student learning:

• What is a student's first response to a text?
• How do their responses change over time and throughout the course?
• Are students engaging with material in careful and thoughtful ways?
• Do students respond differently in class than in blog entries? If so, why?
• Are assignments and reading on par with student abilities?
• How do visual images and other media inform class discussion of written narrative?

There are many different ways that your blog environment can be used. Here are some things to consider when using a blog in your course:

• The number, length, and frequency of blogging assignments
• Your presence on the blog, i.e. the purpose and frequency of your own posts. Do you want to allow your students to post private messages to you, or should everything be public?
• If you choose to read the blog, will you read it daily? Before every class? How closely will you read? Will you comment on students' posts?
• Do you want each student to have his or her own personal blogging space? Will your students work in groups in your course, and if so, do you want each group to have its own blogging space?

There are other configuration questions about specific features of the blog, which can be addressed in consultation with the CNDLS team. They can demonstrate the features so you can decide how you want it to be set up for your course, and then will configure it for you. All of these questions about pedagogical strategies have implications for the configuration of your weblog. If you're interested in using one for your class, please contact CNDLS to set up a consultation.