I’m glad to see Marion Holland back and blogging, especially with content like this:
I think the asynchronous and archivable nature of web logs will make these blog conversations an important cognitive scaffold for student writing. A scaffold provides support with a platform. What will prove to be unique about a blog platform for student writing? A discussion about this was started during a gathering of educators at NECC and continues on web logs. Students may be less likely to ignore other student’s comments and ideas when part of a web log study group than if they were working together using a bulletin board. The idea was mentioned at NECC that a web log may produce a more focused discussion that is more easy to follow than a threaded discussion board. In the discussion board environment, following an idea’s progression can be difficult as students have to “click around” more to read through various posts. In a web log discussion, students can link to other student’s ideas in their posts and participate in a focused extension of those ideas in the comments area. This may produce more focused, coherent discussions.
The “how is this different from a news group” question came up again just today and I think Marion’s post offers a clear differentiation. It echoes something Sarah said last year about ownership of the space and the added responsibility of editorial control not just for the idea but for the conversation. One thing I’d love to imbue in my students even more this year is the whole concept of bringing together the ideas and observations of others and, as Marion says, building that cognitive scaffold around them, sorting and adding and processing them into a higher more original understanding. That’s what pushes my own thinking and learning in this space. It never happened to this extent on discussion boards. There is much here to delve into more deeply…
—–