What is a weblog in the higher education context?
Say what it is not: not quite personal; publicy. not very collaborative. Not MySpace.
It should be reflective, personal, informational and yet profound.
What can we learn from paper journals and diaries? They are personal yet important. They are reflective. Grammar is not important as long as there is basic clarity.
Audience: well, still the teacher and peers to some extent. Few comments, even from the teacher. Yet, there is still the possibility of other comments.
Collaboration is difficult, maybe the result of the technology.
but basically, weblogs are merely a space for more writing in a richer tech environment.
Don't totally abandon ideas from paper journals such as grammar and spelling are not most important. Express ideas. Get rid of conventions to freely sing.
Now instruction: Yes, it should be open ended but not vague. Teach the technical aspects in class, face to face, hands on. Present the blogs at midterm and during the last week of class to give closure to assignment and class.
Unintended consequences: What do they write that surprises you? Do the students blog after the course is over?
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