Mobilizing Faculty into the Future: Using Online Technology as Teaching Tools

Methodology 2 - Process:
The Humanities class meets once each week on Monday night for 3 hours. On the Wednesday following a class meeting,
the instructor posts the latest blog entry. Students have until the following Monday before class to view the entry,
read their classmates’ comments, and post their own entries.
The instructor locates materials through leads in the New York Times Arts Section and articles written in the New
Yorker Magazine.
Methodology 3 – Practical Issues:
The instructor uses the Blogspot.com platform for the blog. While the blog link is public, the site is not listed for
Google searches and, therefore, seldom attracts activity beyond the class for which it is designed. This element of
limited privacy makes it easy for the instructor to remove student responses at the completion of a semester and reuse
particularly effective blog posts. While the instructor likes to update the entries and post materials addressing
current art issues, she also finds that sometimes a re-post is preferable to cover a given topic. Re-posts in a new semester
can also save the instructor personal time during an especially busy week.
Methodology 4 – Effectiveness:
Students respond well to the blog posts. They enjoy the range of possibilities among artistic expressions and gain
exposure to exhibits and performances from afar. The blog can share very contemporary art events, as compared
to textbook entries printed in prior years. Students arrive in class and often initiate discussion about the blog entry
even before class begins. The blog posts provide them a common discussion point that helps students see the multiplicity
of approaches they might take to a given source of art. Through exposure to their various posts, students
teach one another the value of this broadened perspective.
Student feedback in this sentence completion exercise, obtained at semester end, attests to their interest.
The best thing about blogging is . . .
o the ability to speak freely
o the freedom to take time and form an opinion
o you can say what you feel
o it’s easier to type than say in front of everyone
o I like the topics
o finding artists that I haven’t heard about
o learning from others’ perspectives
o sharing my thoughts with others
o anonymity but still having a voice
Methodology 5 – Disadvantages:
The blogspot.com format allows for student posts to be confirmed by e-mail notice to the instructor’s mailbox. This
method helps the instructor credit points for each student as the entries accumulate. The method, however, does
take instructor time to document. During the first semester the blog was created, the instructor did not award
points for the posts, and predictably fewer students participated. Though mildly time-consuming for the instructor,
the point method does secure full participation. Plus, a quick review of student comments prior to class helps the instructor
track the tone and temperament of student reactions.
Because the blog posts contain digitally rich materials in form of pictures and videos, students need a higher performing
internet link. Oftentimes the Chrome browser works best to access blogspot.com, as it is another platform
within the Google family. Microsoft’s Explorer browser is sometimes sluggish about gaining fully operable access.
Additional Information:
The instructor has found that even after students leave her class, some will periodically send her e-mails with links
and suggestions for future blog entries. As students come across material that reminds them of their Humanities
class, they generously share.
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