April 3, 2007

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  Abstract:

   

  “But students don’t know how to write IN the classroom.”

  A positive approach to student writing using class blogs in the composition classroom.

   

  … As they walk out of class, just what are they thinking about?

  … What does that quiet student have to say?

  … How can I post announcements or web sites that everyone will look at?

  … Can peer review be conducted outside of the class?

   

  These are just some of the questions I had before I started using class blogs (and even while I was in the middle of using them). While sometimes technology can be frustrating, I have found that the positives of using class blogs in my classroom have out-weighed the negatives. The biggest positive I’ve seen is getting students to write more often and to each other as an audience.

   

  Since getting my job two years ago at the North Dakota State College of Science, I have put class blogs to the side while getting accustomed to the campus and students. Now, this coming fall I plan on returning to using class blogs via eCompanion (a program provided by eCollege, the site we use for our Distance Education courses) – something similar to Blackboard. My presentation will cover how I have used class blogs in the past, what I plan to do with class blogs in the future, and why I find them helpful in, and out of, the composition classroom.

   

  Bio:

   

  Sybil Priebe, an alumna of NDSU, currently teaches at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, ND. This fall, she’ll teach Introduction to Poetry for the first time as well as 3-4 other courses she’s been teaching the past two years: English 105: Technical Communication, English 110: College Composition I, English 120: College Composition II Online, and World Literature Online. Beyond blogging on her teaching blog (www.xanga.com/teacher47), Sybil does like to shop, cook, read silly magazines (like OK!), and watch The Office.

  • 5:27 pm
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