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1/9

Real Problems, Virtual Solutions: Engaging Students OnlineAuthor(s): A. Fiona PearsonSource: Teaching Sociology, Vol. 38, No. 3 (JULY 2010), pp. 207-214Published by: American Sociological AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27896530.

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2/9

Articles

Real

Problems,

Virtual

Solutions:

Engaging

Students

Online

AMERICANOCIOLOGICALSSOCIATION

Teaching Sociology

38(3)

207-214

)

American

Sociological

Association 2010

DOI: 10.1177/0092055X10370115

http://ts.sagepub.com


3/9

208

Teaching Sociology 38(3)

introductory

sociology

courses,

one

that

used

mul

timedia and

online

technologies

nd

one

thatdid

not,

Kroeber

(2005)

found

that tudents

responded

more

favorably

to

the

set

of

classes

inwhich tech

nology

was

used.

Although

students'

grades

in the

sections where

PowerPoint

and

Blackboard

were

used

were

not

any

higher

than

the sections

where

such

technology

was

not

used,

class

evaluations of

the

perceived

value of the

course

and the

profes

sor's effectiveness

were

higher

for the

set

of clas

ses

using

technology.

ltimately

Kroeber

(2005)

argues

that such

integration

of

technology

may

be

a

non-significant

gesture,

as

there

is little

definitive evidence

that it

increases

learning;

how

ever,

introducing technology

does

serve

as a

sig

nificant

symbol, demonstrating

to

students

a

professor's willingness

to

engage

with

emerging

technologies

on

their behalf.

In

an

earlier

study,

Dietz

(2002)

likewisedetermined hat

using

tech

nology

may

not

always directly

increase

student

learning

but

may

increase student

investment

and academic

integration,

an

integral

predictor

of

college persistence (Astin

1997;

Tinto

1993).

Although

most

instructors would

acknowledge

the

importance

of

student

perception

and

persis

tence,

they

are

more

immediately

concerned

with

increasing

student

learning.

Writing assignments,

either short

papers

or

journals,

that

focus

on

current

issues and

events have

long

been

cited

as an

effec

tive

means

of

attracting

students'

attention and

facilitating

students'

understanding

of

abstract

sociological

theories

and

concepts

(Malcolm

2006;

Reinersten and DaCruz

1996;

Unnithan

and

Scheuble

1983).

Furthermore,

such

assignments

require

students

to

develop

and

fine-tune

necessary

communication, organizational,

and

analytic

skills.

Malcolm

(2006),

who relied

on a

guided

weekly

written

analysis

of

current

news

articles,

found

that

students'

general

writing

and

analytic capabil

ities

improved ignificantly

ver

the

course

of the

semester.

n the

end,

Malcolm

(2006)

found

that

the

regularity

f

the

writing

ssignment

as

partic

ularly important.uring

terms

hen

she

required

rather

than the usual 10 written

analyses,

students'

writing

and

analytic performance improved

nly

marginally.

Importantly,

Malcolm's

findings

reveal

that for students' learning to increase, writing as

signments

must

be

required

consistently

throughout

the

term.

Although

most

researchers of

writing

effec

tiveness

have

analyzed

their

experiences

with

traditional

papers

and

journals,

a

growing

num

ber

of

researchers

using digital technologies

have

begun

to

analyze

their

experiences

with

on

line

writing assignments.

Ammarell

(2000)

argued

that online

news

groups,

small

groups

of

students

that

participate

in

asynchronous

discus

sions

online,

could be used

to

advance

radical

pedagogy

in

the

sociology

classroom.

These

on

line

newsgroups

facilitated

dialogue

between

stu

dents and

provided

a

context

where

they

were

simultaneously

teaching

and

learning

course

material

to

each

other.

Ammarell

(2000)

found

that

participating

in the

online

news

groups

improved

students'

writing

and

critical

thinking

skills

and

involved

students

more

actively

in

the

learning process.

In

addition,

Valentine

(2001)

found that ist

serv

discussion boards

were

a

particularly

useful

means

of

covering potentially

controversial

or

sensitive

subject

matter.

These

listserv

discussion

groups

provided

students

in

a

human

sexuality

course

with

a means

of

discussing socially

taboo

or

politically charged topics

inwhat

came

to

be

viewed

by

students

as a more

safe virtual

envi

ronment.

Although

students' identities

were

not

anonymous,

Valentine

(2001)

found that tudents

felt

more

free

to

express

their ideas online than

in

the classroom. Students also valued the collabo

rative

learning

that took

place

online

in the

con

text

of the discussion

group.

Unlike

individual

class

journals,

which

Valentine

(2001)

had used

previously,

the

discussion

group

allowed for

a

level

of

semi-public

exchange

as

students col

lectively

made

sense

of

complex

and

challenging

topics.

Valentine

(2001:51)

also

discovered

that

these

computer-mediated

discussion

groups

pro

vided instructors with

a means

of

assessing

class

concerns, anxieties, confusion,

and

con

flict.

In

response

to

needs

expressed

within

the

context

of

these online

discussions,

instruc

tors

could

clarify

concepts

and

address misunder

standings

during

regularly

scheduled

class

meetings.

Overall,

this

research

reveals

the

potential

individual

and

institutional

enefits?in terms f

student

learning,

engagement,

and

persistence?

when

faculty

collectively integrate

into their

instruction

current

issues/events

and

regular

writ

ingassignments,while using technologicalpeda

gogical

tools. In

the

following

sections,

I

describe

how I used

current

event-based

writing

assignments

on

blogs

in

an

introductory

class

room

as a means

of

engaging

students' interest

and

increasing

students'

learning.

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4/9

Pearson

209

INTEGRATINGLASS BLOGS

The

regional

state

university

where

I

teach

serv

ices

just

under

10,000

undergraduate

students,

approximately

40

percent

of whom have

parents

who

have

not

received

a

four-year college

degree.

Over

two

years

ago,

I

sought

to

alter

my

approach

to

teaching

the

introductory

course

Social

Problems,

a

standard

offering

in

many

sociology

departments

across

the

country.

Most

semesters,

I teach

two

sections of

Social

Problems,

which

meets two

or

three times

a

week,

with 35 students

enrolled

in

each class. Since this

course can

be

used

to

fulfill the

university's general

education

requirements,

most

of

the students

are

not

sociol

ogy

majors.

In

an

attempt

to

involve students

more

actively

in

the

process

of

applying

and

creating

knowledge,

I

began

by considering

ways

that

I

might

increase student

engagement

and allow

students

more

opportunities

to

practice

express

ing

their ideas and issues

of

concern.

I

then

decided

to

organize

the

course

around

current

events

and locate

sociological readings

that

lent

insight into the social dynamics of those events.

For

example,

I

had students

examine the 1999

Columbine

murders

(I

have since

replaced

that

event

with

the

2007

Virginia

Tech

murders),

first

using

Hilgartner

and

Bosk's

(1988)

public

arenas

model

as a means

of

analyzing

how

individuals,

groups,

and

organizations

framed

public

under

standing

of this

event.

I

then had studentsread

a

chapter

fromNewman

et

al.'s

(2004)

book

Rampage:

The

Social Roots

of

School

Shootings

and

an

article

by

Kimmel

(2002),

Gender,

Class and Terrorism. Both readings contain

a

rich

sociological analysis

of

the connections

between

violence,

gender, sexuality,

and social

class that

we

discuss

in

the

context

of

this

current

event.

Other

topics

that

I

have included

in

the

past

were

the

abuses

at

Abu Ghraib

Prison,

the

fall of

Enron,

and

childhood

obesity.

Students

worked

in

small

groups

to create

brief

pre

sentations

on

these various

events

or

issues and

I

would

then

ead

discussion,

including

some

lec

ture,

on

the

sociological

articles

paired

with each

issue/event. In addition to using Blackboard,

the

campus

course

management

system,

and

PowerPoint?technological

resources

that

I

had

regularly

relied

on

in

the

past?I

also

chose

to

integrate blogs

as a means

of

extending

and

ex

panding

the breadth

and

depth

of

our

class

dis

cussion

on

the articles

and

events.

I

chose

a

blog

over

a

traditional written

jour

nal for

two

reasons.

First,

as

Valentine

(2001)

and

Ammarell

(2000)

both

note,

unlike

most

journals,

online written

work

is

public

and

stu

dents

are

provided

with

an

opportunity

to

read

each others'

ideas

regarding

the

readings

as

they

post.

Students

are

therefore

presented

with

an

opportunity

to create

knowledge

as

they

dis

cuss

with

each other the

meaning

of

a

text

or

idea;

they

re

not

merely

reporting

heir

solated

understanding

of

issues

or

readings

to

an

audi

ence

of

one,

the

professor.

Instead,

they

are

pre

senting

their

own

analysis

in

the

context

of

analyzing

and

evaluating arguments posted by

their

peers.

Collectively,

students work

to create

meaning

and

thereby

are

involved

more

actively

in

the

learning

process.

The

second

reason

I

chose

to

use

blogs

is

con

nected

to

the first.

Because the

blog

posts

are

public

and

because students

are

responding

to

each others' ideas

online,

my

role

as

evaluator

is

more

collaborative and holistic. That

is,

rather

than

repetitively

correcting

inaccuracies

for

a

stu

dent

audience of

one,

as

I

might

do when evalu

ating a traditional journal response, I can focus

instead

on

providing

a

summary

evaluation

of

the

entire discussion

for

that week. In this

sense,

evaluation of the

substantive

content

of

each

entry

or

post

is

a

collaborative effort that

actively

involves students

as

they

comment

on

prior

posts

and involves

me

when

I

highlight overarching

questions, arguments,

or

conclusions. When

deemed

necessary,

I

can

certainly provide

correc

tive

evaluations of

individual

responses,

either

publicly

in

class if several

students make

the

same error or one-on-one depending on the error

and

student

in

question.

However

in

using

a

pub

lic

forum,

students

are

first

challenged

to

provide

such

correctives

as

they

read,

reflect

upon,

and

respond

to

the

interpretations

and

arguments

pre

sented

by

their

peers?only

later,

during

class

discussion,

do

I

step

in

with

a

summary

evaluation.

Finally,

I

chose

a

blog

ratherthan

a

threaded

discussion

group,

a

resource

provided

on

many

campus

course

management

systems,

or a

listserv

because of the anonymity it allows students?for

the

blog,

students

create

their

own

username

that

need

not

reveal their

ctual

identity

o

other

class

members.

As

Valentine

(2001)

discovered,

online

forums

provide

an

alternative

space

for

discourse that

students

may

perceive

as more

safe,

particularly

when

discussing

sensitive



5/9

210

Teaching

Sociology 38(3)

topics.

Given

the

highly

controversial

and

politi

cized

nature

of

the

topics

under

discussion

(e.g.,

prison abuse,

residential

segregation,

racial

pro

filing),

I

hoped

that the

distance

provided by

the online

format

coupled

with the

anonymity

provided by using

the

blog

would

create

a

virtual

space

where

students

who

are

generally

quiet

or

who

might

hold alternative

or

minority

perspec

tives

might

feel

more

comfortable

articulating

their

views

online

than

in

traditional class discus

sion.

As

I

explain

in the

following,

the forum is

not

fully

anonymous

because

I,

the

instructor,

know

students' actual identities

in

order

to

record

blog participation. However

in

moderating

in

class discussion of the

blog,

I

do

not

reveal

stu

dents' actual identities and

only

refer

to

students'

pseudonyms

when

referencing

their

blog

comments.

At the

beginning

of the

term,

tudents

register

on

the

blog

site where

I

have created and

am

moderating

our

class

blog

for the

term.

Most

recently,

I

have been

using

the

free

blog

site

developed by

WordPress

(http://wordpress.com).

I

prefer

this free site because

the

WordPress soft

ware is both easy to use and does not require stu

dents

to create

their

own

blog

when

initially

signing

on.

When

students

register, hey

will

be

asked

to

check whether

or

not

they

would like

to

create their

own

personal

blog

or

register

as

a

user ?I

recommend that unless

they

are

familiar

with

and

are

sincerely

interested

in

cre

ating

a

personal blog, they merely register

as

a

user. 1

When

students

register

on

the

WordPress

site,

they

are

required

to create

a

username

that will

appear

on

all their

posts.

Once students create their usernames, they sub

mit

those

names

to

me,

so

I

can

track their

partic

ipation

and involvement.

At

the end

of

each

week,

I

post

a

topic

online that

asks students

to

connect

material

from

our

course

readings

to

a

current

event

that

we

will

be

discussing

in class

the

following

week. For

example, during

a

seg

ment

examining

residential

segregation,

public

policy,

and the

events

surrounding

Hurricane

Katrina

in

2005,

I

posted

the

following topic:

Describe some of themedia images of peo

ple's experiences/interpretations

that

ap

peared

in

the

aftermath

of

Hurricane

Katrina that struck

you

most.

Go

on

to

explain

how

Wilson's and Denton

and

Massey's

analysis

of

urban

change

in

the

20th

century

might

aid

us

in

historically

situating

and

more

comprehensively

under

standing

the

many

dimensions of

the

social

disaster

we now

refer

to

as

Katrina.

All

of the

topics

sk students

o

reflect

n

their

ur

rent

understanding

of

an

event

or

issue and then

draw connections

to

the

readings assigned

for that

week. In

terms

of

basic

requirements,

students

are

expected

to:

(1) post

to

the

class

blog

once

a

week

by

7

p.m.

the

night

before

we

begin

to

dis

cuss

the

readings/issues,2)

write

a

minimum of

300 words in their

ost,

(3)

address the

topic

pre

sented, nd (4) reflectn ideaspresented yat least

one

other

blogger.

As

long

as

students

meet

these

basic

minimum

requirements

for

their

post,

they

receive

a

passing

grade

for the

assignment.

Substantive

evaluation is

provided by

classmates

during

the

course

of

online discussion

or

by

me

in

class,

when

we

integrate

content

from the

blog

into

our

class

discussion.

Although

I

encourage

stu

dents

to

feel free

to

write in

casual

prose,

as

they

might

in

a

journal,

I

emphasize

that

the

blog

post

is

an

academic

assignment

and

they

should

carefully compose their entries. We also discuss

the

importance

of

presenting

evidence

when

mak

ing

claims and

of

respecting

opposing

and/or

minorityviewpoints.

To

facilitate

the

creation of

a

safe

space

in the

classroom

and

online,

I

schedule

during

the

first

week

of

class

at

least

one

reading

that

explicitly

focuses

on

issues

related

to

the

institutionalized

dimensions of

privilege

and

oppression.

In

addition,

I

include brief

guidelines

regarding

effective

communication

in

both the

Class

Participation

and the

Blog

Assignment

sections of my syllabus; we review these in detail

at

the

beginning

of the

term. I

clearly

communicate

that

I want

students

to

be

honest

and,

when

they

feel it

warranted,

to

challenge

students'

and

authors'

conclusions;

however,

I

also stress

that

unreflective

venting

is

not

acceptable.

The

blogs

are a

place

to

ask

questions

about

complex

and

controversial

issues

and to

solicit assistance in

making

sense

of

authors'

findings

or

arguments.

If

effective

meaning-making

is

to

occur,

a

level

of

decorum and

respect

is

required.

Before each class after hich a blog assignment

has

been

due,

I

print

out

the

responses

for the

most

recent

blog

and

highlight

particularly insightful

summaries

or

claims,

inaccurate

interpretations

of

the

readings,

relevant

questions,

and/or

lively

ex

changes

of

information.

During

class,

I

refer

to

the

blog

as a

means

of

initiating

discussion

at

the



6/9

Pearson

211

beginning

or

to

clarify

dimensions

of

discussion

already

in

progress.

In

class,

the

blog

is

treated

as

an

alternative

sphere

where

meaning

is made and

challenged. Finally,

at

the end of

the

term,

I

ask

stu

dents

to

revisit

one

blog

post

of their

hoice

and

consider how the students'

verbal

exchange

on

that

ost

shapes

their

understanding

f the

articular

social issue under discussion. This

critique

serves

as

one

part

of their

final

exam,

reinforcing

for students

the

value

that

place

on

the discussion that takes

place

online.

EVALUATION

During

the

final

day

of class each

term,

asked

students

to

answer

five

questions regarding

class

assignments

and

readings.

In

regards

to

the

blogs,

I

asked students

to

respond anonymously

in writ

ing

to

the

following open-ended question,

Did

you

find

the

blogs

to

be useful?

Briefly

explain

and

provide

any

recommendations.

Next is

a

summary

description

of the

prevalent

themes

that

emerged

from this

qualitative analysis.

It

re

flects

the

responses

of

232 students

from

eight

sections of SOC 111 from fourdifferent erms

(Spring

2007

to

Fall

2008).

Overall,

91

percent

of

the

students recommended

that

I

continue

to

use

the

blogs

in class and 9

percent

recommended

that

I

discontinue their

use.

Benefits f

Using Blogs

Like

a

journal,

the

blogs

were

a means

of

assuring

that students

kept

up

with

readings

and

engaged

with the ideas presented. Wrote one student, The

blogs

were

useful

and ensured

people

in the class

are

doing

the

readings

and

participating.

A

major

ity

f the tudents ikewise ommented

n

the ffect

of the

blogs

on

their

reading

habits,

reflecting

n

the fact that

they

were

required

to

keep

up

with

the

readings

if

they

were

to

complete

the

blog

as

signments

successfully.

As

one

student

honestly

at

tested,

I feel that

ithout

them, ,

or

the

rest

f

the

class,

would

not

have

kept

up

with

the

readings;

so

truth be

told,

the

blogs

were

very

useful.

Beyond keeping up with the readings, stu

dents also

frequently

ommented

on

the

learning

benefits of

the

blogs,

both

in

terms

of under

standing

course

content and

improving

their crit

ical

thinking

and

writing

skills.

One student

stated,

Some

people

knew

more

information

about other

topics

which

helped

to

clarify

any

misunderstandings

that

ou

might

have had about

the

topic.

It

also forces

you

to

go

online

and

learn

more

about

the

topic.

Another student

affirmed,

The

blogs

were

extremely

useful.

If

you

didn't

understand

the

readings,

someone

on

the

blogs

would

definitely

clear

it

up

forme. Confessed

another

student,

It

helped

me

to

understand

the

articles better.

Importantly

students acknowl

edged

the

importance

f

not

only

the

writing

but

also

the

reading

required

of this

assignment:

Writing

he

blogs helped

me

to

retain nformation

from the

readings.

Also

reading

the various

blogs

proved

useful in better

understanding

the

overall

blog topics.

These

comments

collectively

attest

to

students'

perceived gains

in

terms

of

content.

The

blogs

also

provided

me

with

a means

of

determining

students'

understanding

of

an

issue

before

we

arrived

in

class

to

discuss

it in

more

detail.

I

could

then

use

class

time

more

produc

tively

to

address

confusion

and/or

substantively

build

on

the

ideas

presented

in

the

blog

discus

sion. For

example,

a

student

responding

to

a

book

chapter

on

moral

panics,

which

we

had

read earlier

in

the

term

in connectionwith

another issue, identified the

events

surrounding

Hurricane

Katrina in 2005

as

indicative

of

a

moral

panic.

Students

in

subsequent blog

posts

supported

or

challenged

such

an

interpreta

tion.

During

our

next

class,

I

took

the time

to

review

the criteria used

to

define

moral

panics

and

we

discussed

at

length

whether

or

not

the

events

surrounding

Hurricane Katrina

would

constitute

a

moral

panic

as

defined

by

the

chapter's

authors.

This

experience

illustrates

how students

can

make

productive

use

of

a

virtual

space where they are encouraged to make con

nections and draw

distinctions,

revealing

the

deep

learning taking lace

as

they ollectively

work

to

make

sense

of

complex concepts.

As

a

result of students'

reading

and

writing

about

these

issues

on

our

blog

site,

they reported

feel

ing

more

confident

in

their

knowledge

of both

the

readings

and the social issues under discus

sion.

Furthermore,

the

content

in

the

blogs

pre

pared

them

for

class

discussion?wrote

one

student,

They

were

useful

because

they

gave

me a good understandingof the topicbeforewe

talked about

it in

class. As Ammarell

(2000)

likewise discovered

in his

use

of

asynchronous

online

discussion,

students

actively engaged

with the

material

and with each

other,

improving

their skillswhile

empowering

them

to

articulate

their

understanding

of

or

position

on an

issue.



7/9

212

Teaching

Sociology

38(3)

Importantly,

many

students

acknowledged

that

this

empowerment may

have in

part

resulted

from

the

perceived

reedom fforded

by

their

anonymity.

One

student

expressed,

The

blogs

were

extremely

useful and

were

a

good

way

to

anonymously

voice

opinions

when

being

too

afraid

to

speak

up

in

class

on

the

topic.

Just

over a

quarter

of the

students

surveyed

ighlighted

he

benefits f

anonymity

n

their

evaluation

of

the

blogs.

Students'

statements

also

revealed that he

blogs provided

a

virtual

pace

where

many

students felt

more

comfortable

pre

sentingminority

standpoints

n

issues that

might

have otherwise

gone

unacknowledged.

Wrote

one

student,

I think

they

are

great

for

everyone

to

express

their

opinions

without fear of

teasing

or

other

negative

consequences.

Another student

stated,

[The

blog]

allows honest

opinions

and

expression

that

might

not

be

heard/seen. As

Valentine

(2001)

likewise

discovered,

students

e

ported feeling

more

comfortable

confronting

ster

eotypes

and

addressing

controversial issues

online

than

theymight

have

in

the classroom.

It

is

not

fully

clear

whether

or

not

students

n

my

classes

experienced

this

freedom

olely

due

to

theiranonymity ith peers or due to thephysical

distance

resulting

from

communicating

in

writing

online.

Anecdotally,

I

can

recall several

students

who

were

quiet

in

class but

who

participated

in

the

blogs

at

length, writing

strong,

well-articulated

arguments

regarding

issues under

discussion.

These

students

were

clearly

engaged

with

the

course

material

but

felt

more

comfortable

expressing

their

ideas

to

their

peers

in

writing

than in

face-to-face

class discussion.

For

them,

the

blog provided

an

alternative

sphere

for

public

discourse and

provided

ameans of public participation unavailable inmost

traditionally

structured classrooms.

It

is

possible

that

knowing

others' identities would

not

have

sig

nificantly

ltered the

feeling

of

a

safe

space

for

some

of

those

students nd

that

t

was

the online

writing

dimension

of

the

interchange,

not

the

ano

nymity,

that

provided

a

sense

of

freedom.

However,

one

student,

who

specifically

cited

ano

nymity

as

being important,

xplained quite

insightfully,

Without

our

usual

preconceived

no

tions

and

expectations

of

how

our

classmates

are

going to act, it's far easier to analyze the angles

of each issue. For

this

student,

anonymity

pro

vided

a

way

to

bypass

the

effects f

personality

that

can

shape

interpersonal

communication in

the

classroom.

In

addition,

anonymity

may

have been

particularly mportant

or

students

ith friends

or

acquaintances

in the

same

class,

with

whom

they

were

fearful of

disagreeing.

Such

a

perspective

is

revealed

by

a

student who

claimed that

anonymity

was

important

because

nobody

the

next

day

would

say

anything

to

you

like

'why

do

you

not

agree

with

me?'

Clearly,

for

some

students,

anonymity

was

perceived

as

integral

to

creating

a

safe

space

where

interpersonal

communica

tion

was

somewhat

freed from

the effects

of

stu

dents' classroom

personalities

or

personal

relationships.

Finally,

it

was

clear that

students

appreciated

being

introduced

o

blogs

and

viewed

my

use

of

them in

the

classroom

as a

significant

symbol

(Kroeber2005).Many students ere well versed

in the

use

of

MySpace

or

Facebook,

but

had

not

ventured

into the

blogosphere. They

liked

being

able

to

include links to

relevant

Web

sites

in

their

responses

and

as one

student

wrote,

They

left

room

to

be

creative.

Another

student

com

mented,

I liked

the

use

of

something

different,

and

yet

another

stated,

They

were

useful and

made the

class

more

interactive. Those

students

who

were

already

very

familiar

with

blogs

and their

uses

were

genuinely

excited

to

share

theirblogging knowledgewithme and otherstu

dents.

Collectively,

these comments

make

clear

that

most

students

appreciated

being

more

involved in

the

process

of

meaning-making

and

felt

a

level

of

empowerment

as a

result.

Points

of

Complaint

As with

all

technology,

user error

and site

mal

functions

can

create

tension

and

stress.

Although

registering

on

and

accessing

the

blog

is

relatively

straightforward, at least one or two students a term

would

complain

about the

difficulty

f

using

the

computer.

Wrote

one

student,

I

did

find

the

blogs

useful

when

sparking

classroom

discussions

but

had

extreme

difficulty

ith

the

site. In

attempt

to

alleviate

stress,

I

tend

to

give

students

two

to

three

eeks

at

the

beginning

f the

term

o

register

and

practice

posting

on

the

blog.

I

also allow

stu

dents

one

freebie ?a week

that

they

are

excused from

posting?anticipating

that

they

will

encounter

problems

with

computer

or

online

access ( my Internet was down or my login

wasn't

working ).

For

those

students

who

have

difficulty

ith

home

computers

nd

general

com

puter

access,

I

direct them

to

the

campus

computer

labs

(the

primary

computer

lab

on

the

campus

where

this

study

was

conducted

contains

over

230

computers

and

is

open

seven

days

a

week).



8/9

Pearson

213

Another

frequent

informal

complaint regarded

the due date and time. Some students claimed that

they

had

difficulty emembering

o

post assign

ments

or

that

a

7

p.m.

Monday

deadline

was

diffi

cult

to meet

if

they

were

working

or

out

of

town

over

the weekend. For that

reason,

I

attempt

to

reg

ularly

post

topics

on

the

blog

by

Thursday

after

noons,

giving

students

Thursday evenings

and all

day Friday

to

post

if

they

re

working

or

planning

a

trip

out

of

town

that weekend.

They

therefore

have

a

minimum

of

four

full

days

to

post

their

assignment.

Most

often, however,

I

would

find

that

most

students end

to

post

on

the

day

thatthe

assignment

is due.

I

have

not

found students' wait

ing

to

the inal

day

to

be

a

problem;given

my

learn

ing objectives

for the

assignment,

as

long

as

students

are

reflecting

on

and

writing

about

the

readings

and

their

peers'

comments

outside of

class,

I

am

less concerned

withwhen

they

ost

as

long

s

they

post

by

the

stated

deadline.

I

do

warn

them,

however,

that because

I

give

them

four full

days

to

post,

I

do

not

accept

any

excuses

regarding

tech

nological

failures,

articularly

f

they

shouldwait

until the last

day

to

complete

the

assignment.

A

more

substantive

problem

stems

from

the

public

nature

of

this

assignment. Although

stu

dents

enjoy

being

able

to

read other's

posts,

by

the time

studentswho

post

later

get

to

the

blog,

some

feel

as

if there is little

left

to

say

and that

they

are

merely

repeating

what

others have

posted.

Students

with

strong

academic

skills

and/or

vibrant online

personalities usually

found

something

new

to

say

about the

readings

or

the

discussion,

but weaker

or

less involved students

tended

to

stunt

the discussion.

To

encourage

dif

ferentiation between the blog posts, I have begun

to

ask students

to

include

personal

reflections

in

their

analyses (e.g.,

see

the

aforementioned

dis

cussion

prompt).

I

have

yet

to

assess

the effects

of this

change,

but

my

preliminary

impressions

are

that the

posts

are

less redundant

in

content.

Finally,

there is the issue that students

can

potentially

take

advantage

of their

anonymity

o

engage

in hateful

or

offensive

discourse.

Perhaps

because

I know all students'

actual

identities

and

set

very

clear

guidelines

regarding

esponsible

is

course at thebeginningof the term, have rarely

experienced

any

problems

with students

using

ano

nymity

with their

peers

as

a

means

of

espousing

hateful

viewpoints

or

using inappropriate

anguage

in the online discussion.

If

an

issue

should

arise,

in

structors

are

then

presented

with the

opportunity

to

use

those

moments

to

explore

transgressions

and

discuss

them

as

a

means

of

enhancing

students'

sociological understanding.

For

example,

when

one

student

unwittingly

used the

phrase

colored

people

in

her

post

to

refer

generally

to

racial

minorities,

we as a

class used that

opportunity

to

discuss

the

history

f

the

phrase

and

therole of lan

guage

and

power

in

shaping

our

social understand

ing

of

concepts.

Only

once

have

I

had

to

approach

a

student outside

of

class

to

discuss

an

inappropri

ate

post.

In

that

case,

the

student

fully

understood

my

concerns,

issued

an

apology

to

me,

and

the

sub

sequent

week issued

a

public apology

to

the class

on

the

blog

under

his

pseudonym.

In the

post,

he

more

accurately explained

his

position

in less

explosive

language

and

apologized

for

any

offenses

incurred.

As the

previous experiences

demonstrate,

instructors who

are

committed

to

creating

a

safe

space

must

be

willing

to

regularly

monitor dis

cussion

and address

potential

indiscretions

when

they

arise. When instructors deal

with

such

breaches

openly

and

honestly, powerful

teachable moments

emerge,

providing

oppor

tunities

to

discuss

important

issues and

more

gen

erally

reflect

pon

the

benefits

and

challenges

of

online

interpersonal

communication. Such dis

cussions

may

become

increasingly

useful

and rel

evant

as

students'

personal

and

professional

use

of

language-based

online

resources

and social

networking technology

continues

to

evolve.

CONCLUSION

In

sum,

logs

can

be

a

helpful

ool that

rovides

stu

dents

with

a means

of

addressing complex

or con

troversial

issues

in

a

safe

forum where

they

can

test out their ideas and practice the skills of summa

rization and

argumentation

in written

form. The

anonymity

ith

peers

afforded

y

the

blog

allows

students

to

express

ideas and

viewpoints

without

the

pressure

of

having

to

conform

to

peers'

expect

ations and

provides traditionally quiet

students,

who

are

nonetheless

highly engaged

with

the

course

material,

with

an

alternative

means

of

publicly

par

ticipating

in

class.

It is

also

an

easy way

to

increase

the time that students communicate their ideas in

writing

on a

regular

basis

throughout

the

term,

which researchers have long determined can signif

icantly

ncrease student

learning.

dmittedly,

the

qualitative

evaluation used for this

study

cannot

pro

vide

a

definitive

assessment

of actual

gains

in stu

dent

learning

when

a

blog

is

regularly

sed

as

a

means

of

analyzing

course

content.

However,

it

is

clear

from these

evaluations

that

students



9/9

214

Teachingociology8(3)

overwhelmingly

appreciate

the

opportunity

to

hone

their

nalytic

nd evaluative

skills

on

the

blog

as

they collectively

make

sense

of

course

concepts

andmaterials.

Effectively valuating

riting

s labor

intensive

and,

in

an era

of

increasing

class sizes and

teaching

oads,

integrating

egular

writing

assign

ments,

such

as

journals

that

are

evaluated

solely

by

the

instructor, may

not

be

a

realistic

option.

However,

with

public

online

assignments,

evalua

tion is collaborative and

part

of the

meaning-making

process.

Students

provide

substantive feedback

within

the

ontext

f the

blog

discussion,

nd based

on

their

responses

instructors

provide

generalized

or

focused feedback

in

the

context

of

class

discussion

or,

when

necessary,

individual

conferencing.

More

than

a

symbolic

gesture, blogs provide

a

means

of

engaging

students,

encouraging

them

to connect

with

the

readings

and,

even more

importantly,

with each

other.

NOTE

An

earlier

version of this article

was

presented

at

the

Pacific

Sociological

Association's

2009 Annual

Meeting in San Diego, CA. Iwish to thank Scott Ellis

for his

conceptual inspiration

and

insight regarding

this

project.

In

addition,

I

thank the

anonymous

reviewers

and the

editor,

Kathleen

S.

Lowney,

for

their

thoughtful

responses

and recommendations

on

earlier drafts.

Reviewers

for this

manuscript

were,

in

alphabetical

order,

Lawrence

Neuman

and Caroline

Perseli.

1.

WordPress contains

a

number of

features

that

allow

blog

moderators

to

control

who

can

post

to

their

respective

blog

sites.

Although

blog

moderators

can

individually

invite and

approve

posters,

I have

found such

processes

time-consuming;

instead,

I

merely

restrict my

blog

to

registered

WordPress

users

and

in

the

past

three

years

have

never

had

an

individual

not

enrolled

in

my

class

post

to

my

blog.

If

such

a

posting

were

to

occur,

however,

the

blog

moderator

can

easily

delete

it from the

dis

cussion thread.

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Wendy

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and Gina

DaCruz.

1996.

Using

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and Journal

Writing

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Large Introductory Sociology

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102-07.

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2nd ed.

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BIO

A.

Fiona

Pearson is

an

assistant

professor

of

sociology

at

Central

Connecticut State

University

in

New

Britain.

Her research and teaching interests include sociology of

education,

public

policy,

consumer

culture,

and

social

inequality.

She is

currently

at

work

on a

project analyz

ing

the effects of

policy

and institutional culture

on

the

experiences

of

college

students

balancing parenting

and

schooling

responsibilities.

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