Sunday, December 4, 2011

Blog User Board

Thank you to Rachel, Ian, Mari, Trevor, Trenton and others who have made helpful suggestions about how to better organize and use blog features to help everyone.

As we get deeper into the senior project (more on that later) we will be developing and launching entrepreneurial ideas based from our collaborative working groups. With so many different working groups and more being proposed every day, this blog will need to be more effective than ever.

I'm wondering whether the course blog should have a group of student advisors with related expertise (in blog design, writing, social media, or tech skills, e.g.) who communicate frequently with others and me in order to make this the most amazing tool in the history of learning*. (*This is an example of what Jim Collins, former Stanford professor and author of such modern business classics as Built to Last, calls a BHAG: Big Hairy Audacious Goal.) If students want to create this board I propose calling it the Blog User Board. (That's right, BUB.)

But the reason I began that last paragraph with the phrase "I'm wondering" is that I'd like to know what you think before I make a final decision. Are the current channels of direct feedback enough? Does the idea of a Board stink of bureaucracy? Or, would this offer a different way for students to collaborate, contribute directly to the course and gain experience that will help them in the future? Please comment to this post with any observations you have on the idea, such as whether we should have a board at all, what you think its function should be, and what types of people/skills should be on it. I'll make a final decision sometime this week. If you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else please send me an email or stop by during the day.

2 comments:

  1. I think that the Blog User Board would end up being both a bad and good thing. How would the people on this board be chosen?
    I don't think they'd make a big difference because I'm almost 100% sure that all your students know how to everything on the blog it's just a lack of effort.
    The "BUB" would probably be the most useful to you. For example, to get posts up that students demand instantly or to update your blog while you are creating other tools for the class to use.
    I think the direct channels of feedback are enough. If you do decided to create "BUB" then it should be students who have knowledge on online security, are easy to talk to, are responsible enough to handle the job and willing to go out of their way to help everyone.

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