My Setup

For those of you curious about the way I personally implement blogging in my classroom, here are some of the basics of my Art, Society, and Culture lecture course.

As a course with no prerequisites, students in Art, Society, and Culture (formerly known as Art Appreciation) are not accountable for having met the college-level requirements outline for ESL and Learning Support. This places this course in a tough spot because assignments must be capable of being met by both under-prepared students as well as those ready to transfer. The challenge is to provide assignments than can be equally engaging to each level of student while competently assessing their ability to achieve course objectives.

As a result of this necessity, I assign 10 blog assignments throughout the duration of my class (both online and face-to-face) and they are worth 45% of a students total course grade. I begin with simple (no research required) low risk assignments and build toward more complex projects. These assignments vary in complexity and points and frequently involve more reflective writing or personal application as a way to avoid objectives that students may not prepared to complete. When research objectives are finally included later in the semester students have had time to get used to the technological requirements and pacing of the course and are given more time to complete the assignments.

By structuring the blogging assignments in this way I can make sure that students have resolved any issues they may be having with the blogging platform early in the semester before higher stake engagement is required.

For me, it is very important that they learn a new task with each new assignment. The first assignment simply gets them started and they introduce themselves. The second asks them to find a photo online and embed the link to the resource. The third asks them to upload a photo they’ve personally taken. The fourth asks them to combine tasks learned in post 1 and 2 and also develop an appropriate and visually appealing post which includes 7 total images. The fifth and sixth posts asks them to specifically work on finding appropriate resources and cite sources inside of their content. The remaining 5 posts include a combination of any of these objectives.

As an example, my first assignment is to set up the blog, choose a theme, upload an avatar, change their blog title, add me as an administrator and post a personal introduction. I grade this as pass/fail and they receive step-by-step guidelines of how to accomplish these goals. This provides a clear understanding of various objectives that will be required later on. In a face-to-face class this can be done together in class, however, detailed instructions should be provided to online students or if the assignment will be completed outside of class. It’s easy points for them but it makes sure to establish a positive start to the project and gets them off the ground running.

At the end of the course, students are asked to research their own personal cultural heritage and identify 5 works of art or artifacts which exemplify aspects of their heritage to which they personally identify. Each student must analyze each work of art using at least two of the six methods discussed throughout the course, share their personal associations, and respond using appropriate and specific vocabulary while doing so. In addition, they are expected to site their sources with embedded links.  While this challenge would be very overwhelming at the beginning of the class when added to the tech requirements, by the time they are required to attempt this assignment they are more than prepared and are feeling confident about their understanding of what is expected. This assignment is frequently cited as their most meaningful and important assignment of the term despite its complexity.

What I Provide for Students

I provide the following for all students, regardless of whether they are online or face-to face:

  • Intro to Blogging: An overview of what blogging is.
  • Blogging Expectations: An overview of what I personally expect from blogging assignment as a whole. This includes a discussion of the applicable deadlines, citing sources, embedding links, and Netiquette.
  • Setting Up Your Blog: A step-by-step walk-through of logging in and setting up the blog, adding me as an administrator, changing the appearance of their blog, and changing the time zone.
  • Blogging 101 & FAQ’s: An ongoing list of common issues raised by students. This includes everything from saving posts as drafts and going back to them later as well as what to do if the username doesn’t work when trying to add me as a user/administrator.
  • Blogging Assignment Overview: A printable check-list of all blogging assignments, their deadlines, and the points that can be earned.
  • Student Blogs and Pod Assignments: A list of student blogs and links to the them with a clear list of the members of each group. This serves as a reference for both students and myself when grading.
  • Class Blog: My own blog for the class. I list all of the student blogs on this site and ask students to subscribe to receive notifications of posts that I make. This allows me to share updates and info and – my favorite – exemplary student posts each week!