Monday, April 4, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Design
Designing a post can be a bit tricky. Take "Blogger," for example. The first new thing that I noticed (since I haven't been here in such a long time), is that there are more designs, or templates, from which to choose. Within these design templates, however, there are also easy WYSIWYG buttons that allow the user the change font types, font colors and font sizes. A couple of glitches I found in working with design were:
- The user has to "Apply" the change in order to "Preview" it
- The "Preview" didn't always reflect the true design, particularly in the case of the scrolling newsreel at the top of the page
- The advanced color choices wouldn't, well, be chosen, for lack of a better phrase. I just couldn't get some of the color to show up
- The headings -- how ugly is that battleship gray color? And yet, while the user can change heading fonts, s/he cannot change the awful color. Odd, I thought. Even stranger, and perhaps a bit creepier, is that I'm in Jersey and when I searched keywords "blogging" and "confusion," here's what Google yielded as an image:
Purpose
Though I have used blogs with my classes in the past, I have had mixed results. Where this type of assignment has worked well is in developmental writing courses. Where I have had mixed results is in literature courses. One of the initial things an instructor needs to consider is the purpose of the assignment. Blogs take a lot of planning. I honestly can't imagine having my students keep a blog on Greek mythology and theater only because I haven't given much thought as to what the purpose would be. When I review my syllabus, I just do not see where this assignment "fits." But if I don't challenge myself, I could get caught up in the same ol', same ol'. Here's what I found to be useful purposes for blogs based on past experience:
- Cooperative assignments
- Journal writing
- Developmental writing
- Understanding character
But there are broader rationales for establishing a purpose for blogging in the classroom. Take a look at this short video:
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