apcampbell

We briefly examined Siemens article, The Art of Blogging, touching upon his list of guidelines for beginners and the disruptive, potentially subversive nature of weblog technology.  We then discussed the midterm self and peer evaluation criteria, emphasizing that the purpose was not to evaluate the person, but rather the work of the person.  In this way, evaluations can be used for reflection and learning, not for manipulative purposes.  In light of those criteria, we visited each learners website and gave suggestions, praise, and criticism.  In addition to some template glitches, the most common criticism was a lack of links to other learner’s sites, not responding to comments (especially from people outside our learning community), and inadequate statements of purpose on the pages.  Not defining their learning needs, nor having a clear focus and plan for how the sites will be used to help students meet those needs, is like playing with a tool but never actually using it.   After troubleshooting minor problems on each site, we began discussing trackback and how it is used.  We talked about the difference between leaving a comment and using trackback, discussing the conversational effects of each.  Finally, after agreeing to activate and practice using trackback this week, we emphasized the ethical importance of content attribution and permission when quoting or using someone else’s material. 

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