Journal 4 - The Journal
“Moderating and Ethics for the Classroom Instructional Bog”
By Patricia Deubel, Ph.D

The author asks the question, “What are the rules of engagement” in the use of class blogs? She answers by telling the reader how she would organize, and what: standards, goals, and skills she would emphasize. The most important part is to ask questions that match the lesson with content knowledge standards and strategies you are trying to teach. She also says to limit how long discussion responses should be. I agree everyone must participate, and the penalties for not doing so should be steep. I would have students research and write, and essay with many pages. I also believe that the Internet learning is great! Students can participate without being over shadowed by the classroom “know-it-alls”. Those who are shy or timid or unsure of themselves can now have a voice!

1. Should there be only two questions? The author would only have two questions at a time. I believe this is a great management suggestion, but I would have at least four questions and similar to the author I would limit the number of words in the responses. This would be great practice in the organization of thoughts.
I would have four questions and they must respond to at least two questions. If they answered more, they earn extra credit. Another mandatory requirement would be for them to respond to 3 different students each week.

2. How can I use the author’s suggestions in the classroom? I would incorporate the author’s suggestions of providing posting guidelines, open ended question, moderating the content and wordiness of the responses. I would make sure they understood ethics and credibility in their publishing. I would use “BlogMeister” to create a class blog. I would make questions relevant to class content, and teaching ethics by setting the rules for using others ideas. I would set up an ethics committee and the students would draw up a contractual agreement and all are to sign and agree to the terms. If one of them is found violating the agreement they would be penalized in some way that is agreeable. I think twitter would serve this purpose just fine since students would learn critical thinking skills and understand how to get their point across more efficiently.
Finally I would engage the students and stimulate their minds by asking opened questions and not criticizing their efforts no matter how far off base they may be. The point is to get them to think critically and practice using words. I do not mean they are permitted to ramble off topic, Responses should be on topic.
I like the suggestion of quoting student responses and I will certainly incorporate this in my class format.