Mr. David Shaitkin
Campus Director
McCann School of Business and Technology
2227 Scranton Carbondale Hwy
Dickson City, PA 18519
Dear Mr. Shaitkin,
I am writing you to address the potential student retention and technology integration initiative I would like to incorporate September 1st 2014; the start of the fall semester. The idea I would like to start this fall revolves around integrating blogging in my ecommerce 101 and my adjunct instructor’s ecommerce 101-night class. By incorporating blogging, instructors can get a better concept driven feel for how well the students understand economic principals and the overall economic way of thinking. How blogging can allow me to do this is very simple. When the students blog, I am getting direct insight into their understanding of the concepts based on current events and their interpretation of these events. I am giving them a secure space to write their opinions and ideas about the theory of ecommerce. I have wanted to create this type of atmosphere for a very long time in ecommerce, and feel blogging is the perfect avenue to explore. Before when discussion would break out in class, only a few students would actively engage each other and challenge the economics we were learning that day. Other more timid students would always hang back and let their shyness or insecurities to communicate their ideas take over. With blogging, I can give them a place to let their understanding of the concepts come out. The students can do this without the fear of confronting another student or of being wrong.
I have attached a detailed plan for getting the students started that covers the following information:
· Outline for what blogging tools we plan to use and why
· Campus liability and student release form examples
· Course objectives that are being aided with the use of blogs
· Introduction to having a digital footprint to aid in their career goals
· Admissions benefits from showing potential students, what they will be working on
Sincerely,
Dustin Parulis
IT Program Director and Online Learning Coordinator
Teachers everywhere have students that are unable to speak in front of peers for one reason or another. The type that have a gift for simplifying multiple part concepts and theories, and can help other students see harder ideas from a different angle. Now envision a class experience where a student feels comfortable sharing her thoughts. A class experience where other students can ask questions, and read about how they handled a lesson or a question. Classes where peer learning and teaching is at the forefront, and students work together to achieve a deeper understanding. That classroom experience is something I think blogging could potentially lead to if properly implemented. Below I am going to map out how we can implement and effectively create an environment to give students a voice the entire class should hear. I am not saying blogging will magically turn students into an outspoken class leader. I am saying that giving her a space to freely write will benefit other students who struggle or need additional examples outside of my lectures and the textbook. The goal is avoiding surface learning and engaging higher-order thinking from the students.
The first aspect of my proposal and implementation is to create a student release form. I fully plan on explaining to the students their blog is for professional and academic use only during this particular class. An example of the type of release form we should use is below:
STUDENT RELEASE SAMPLE
1. Students using blogs are expected to act safely by keeping personal information out of their posts. You agree not to post or give out your family name, password, user name, email address, home address, city, country or other information that could help someone locate or contact you in person. You may share your interests, ideas and preferences.
2. Students agree to never log in as another student.
3. Students using blogs are expected to treat blog spaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for your blog. While we encourage students to have discussions with other bloggers, we also expect that they will be respectful and represent our school in a positive way.
4. Blogs are to be a place for students to give their opinions. However, they are first and foremost a tool for learning, and students will be expected to follow the same rules we have for classroom discussions.
5. Blogs are a way for students to share their writing with real audiences. Most visitors to your blog who leave comments will leave respectful, helpful messages. If you receive a comment that makes you feel uncomfortable or is not respectful, tell your teacher right away. Do not respond to the comment.
6. Students who do not follow these guidelines may have the blogging privileges revoked. Please
7. Student opinions are in no way reflective of the schools opinions and thoughts and therefore should not be associated as such.
I have read and understood these blogging guidelines. I agree to follow them. (Tripsa, 2012)
Student signature:_______________ Director of Education signature:______________
This again is just an example of what we can use. We can tailor the wording to specifically protect our interests. With the legality hurdle out of the way, I will then focus on implementation.
The blogging tools we plan to incorporate are blogs linked through the student’s Google and Google + accounts. These include blogger and RSS feeds the students will use to access current affairs and economic events. Since all students access their mccann.edu account through Gmail, the process will be that much easier when we use Google’s apps. Students will access the most relevant up to date events by having and understanding RSS readers and feeds such as Feedley or Digg Reader. RSS will allow the students to subscribe to multiple news outlets and economic blogs, and have it all accessible in one spot for them. The alternative is going from website to website, blog to blog spending more time searching for the information than digesting it and relating it to what they have learned. This will be something students will come to rely on for the most up to date information in the quickest possible fashion.
Another aspect that helps show the benefits of a blog in the classroom is teaching the students about their digital footprint. We constantly lecture and explain to the students the negative effect a bad digital footprint can have on career goals and job searching. From inappropriate Facebook pictures to foolish tweets, the students hear about these negative impacts from a number of people for their entire academic career to an exhausting extent. Effectively incorporating blogs gives us the opportunity to teach them the potential benefits a good digital footprint could have instead of just the negatives. The type of footprint we could foster is one where a potential employer looks into a student’s digital trail and comes away impressed by it. This type of blog will act as a digital resume reflecting their intelligence and knowledge in all aspects of business education. Think of the power a fully integrated professional blog could have for business students upon graduation. Blogging has the potential to be something that could aid the career services department by distinguishing our students from the other applicants. It is no secret that when it comes to the job market competition is fierce. We have the opportunity to give our students a potential second selling point when employers view their digital footprint. They will see that footprint as the perfect blend of professionalism and academic work. One final thought with being able to demonstrate the student’s abilities, is the potential a blog could have for helping new students decide which program is right for them. We are a student driven business, and sometimes the new students who assume a program is right for them get over or underwhelmed by the classes quickly. We know this causes some concerns in the retention department. We can point potential students towards the blogs to get an idea of the concepts they will be covering as well as some of the projects and course objectives they will be required to fulfill. This will allow them a glimpse into the world of a student.
Finally, I want to discuss using blogs to aid in meeting our course objectives. I want to be clear that I am not looking to replace our entire curriculum with blogs and RSS feeds. I do think using blogs to help meet our course objectives could be a benefit to the students. would like the students to check on economic news daily and practice not only agreeing with economic analysis but also challenging it. I want to create a safe place for students to write. A place where they can challenge and discuss the articles, news, and blogs they read. The creation of their own blog will allow this personal space to write about the economic principles they have learned. “The student who usually talks very loud in the classroom and the student who is very timid have the same writing space to voice their opinion. Teachers and students alike feel the benefits make blogging well worthwhile, if for no other reason than that blogs encourage students to write”. (Downes, 2004). These benefits mentioned in Stephen Downes journal article about educational blogging; are a prime reason why I would like students to adopt blogging, on top of all the other campus wide benefits I have mentioned.
“Blogging to Learn brings up the potential for deeper learning when incorporating blogs in the classroom. She identifies surface learning as the approach by learners to only complete the minimum content to meet assessment requirements, and argues that blogging strategies can shift surface learning to deeper levels. One way we can achieve this deeper experience where learners stand back and seek out conceptual connections she says is the use of a 5-stage blogging process. These steps include establishment, introspection, reflective monologues, reflective dialogue, and knowledge artifact. One of the main benefits the author says is the opportunity for further reflection on topics to enhance the connection aspect of learning. The case can be made that this type of reflection and deeper learning environment will pave the way for a new genre of learning journals through blogging”. (Bartlett-Bragg, 2003)
References
Bartlett-Bragg, A. (2003). Blogging to learn. The Knowledge Tree, 4, 1-12.
Downes, S. (2004). Educational blogging. Educause Review, 39, 14-27.
Tripsa, M. (2012, October 30). Blogging in the classroom. Retrieved from http://techieteacherstricks.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/blogging-in-the-classroom/
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