If you're reading this, I hope that means you've been able to create your own account and develop a blog of your own.
You may be wondering why we're using this tool rather than the standard blackboard format. In the past, I have used blackboard for class discussion and blogging, but I feel that in many cases, blackboard is just too flat. I've yet to meet the student who gets excited about logging into blackboard to write a post that only 22 people will read. Blackboard often yields only generic regurgitations of ideas that probably weren't that creative in the first place.
I like this format for several reasons.
One: It's free. Free is awesome. If this is only your first semester in college, you will soon come to appreciate that fact.
Two: We're not writing in a vacuum. Although blackboard allows me and your peers the chance to read and respond to your words of wisdom, your writing is limited to that space. If you write a particularly spectacular post, I would like you to have the opportunity to share with your mom, your dad, your grandma, your neighbor, your dog, and the world wide web. This format, along with your willingness to share the URL, allows you to do that.
Three: It just looks cooler. Go ahead, look at the class discussion board format on blackboard. Blogger=1, Blackboard=0.
I'm excited to continue on in this online communication experiment with you, Comp. Student. Welcome to the crazy world of college composition!
-SB
