Here’s Why We Must Teach All Students HOW to Blog

No I’m not frustrated.  No I’m not bad-mouthing my students online (we all know what that can do to a teacher).   I AM using this post to pose some solutions for students encouraging challenges in learning to use the blogging platform.

Earlier, I listed five problems that I’ve encountered when we require students to blog specifically in a journalism class.

THE GOAL

Ultimately, we want future full-time journalists to be as comfortable writing a quick post (not nearly as long as this particular one is) that will engage his/her audience.

My colleague, Jim Stovall at University of Tennessee, offers some great tips for Web Writing on his JPROF web site.

Here I want to offer five solutions that I think both the students in my class (and other curious readers) can try to help their students maximize this wonderful platform.

Sidenote:  I am trying very hard to keep my blog posts short.  Most of my posts go on much longer than the recommended 350 words limit.

The SOLUTIONS

Greg Screws from Huntsville's WHNT-TV shows students some of the strategies of his TV station. This kind of show-and-tell is a must if we're going to require students to blog.

SOLUTION #1:  Remember you’re writing for an audience outside of the university

Save the write-ups on graduate school readings for the teacher’s eyes only.  They prove that you read and understood an assigned article or chapter.  But, they do little to build an audience for your content online.

The purpose of the blog is not to take a boring academic assignment and dump it out here online for all the world to see.

You’re building a work habit that prospective employers are (hopefully) going to admire.

SOLUTION #2: Pick something that will attract some interest or elicit a response

We have to show our students that the best posts give the reader something to which they can respond.   Take a controversial stand and then challenge your reader to agree or disagree with you.

Stay on point and make it clear, concise.   THEN, engage them as they respond.

SOLUTION #3: Keep a digital camera handy or make your own graphics

Rather than grabbing images off the web, try to use your own photos.  Take pictures EVERYWHERE you go.  Even marginal shots are better than just text.

But, please don’t just post a big block of text and say that’s a blog post.

Yes, I know, there will be some blog topics for which you don’t have art.  But, keep those to a minimum.  My eyes (and your other readers’ eyes) will appreciate that.

SOLUTION #4:  Blog, blog and then blog some more

The only way I got somewhat comfortable in this space is to spend a LOT of time (personal time) here writing.   Doing the minimum requirement for a class is not enough.

Students reading this: I KNOW you have other classes besides mine.  Time is limited, a precious resource.

SOLUTION #5: Worry about social media later

Ultimately, I was hoping that students would integrate their blogging experience with their social media experience.   Sharing links to their posts on Twitter is a goal.

In the case of the graduate class where BUILDING a community for one’s content is a goal, social media integration is a requirement.

While I have learned the consequences of requiring Twitter in a class,  I think it  or using Facebook or LinkedIn or YouTube will come more naturally here.

But, the content has to be there before you can share it.

Yes, this post is too long!

Graduate Students Provide Reality Check on Required Blogging in Class

This is at least the third year I’ve had students in my journalism classes at the University of Alabama doing required blogging.

For prospective journalists,  the ability to maintain an online journal is a necessary work skill as one enters a full-time news production job.

Consequently, we here on the UA faculty decided two years ago to start requiring incoming freshman to create a blog in their very first class and do AT LEAST FOUR blog posts over that first 15-week academic term.

In this first undergraduate course, we award extra points when they dress up their blogs with photos, pictures and web links.

We hope they’ll continue to use the blog for classes throughout the major.

Bob Sims, who leads the cadre of content producers at Alabama’s top news

Bob Sims, editor of al.com, talked about the importance of blogging during a visit to both of my journalism classes Jan. 30. He was an outstanding, enthusiastic guest speaker.

web site, al.com, spent 90 minutes with my class almost two weeks ago.   I was curious how much of what he said would stick as the students blogged.

Starting this semester on our journalism department web page, we are going to spotlight a “BLOG OF THE WEEK.”

WHEN BIG KIDS BLOG

This is the first semester, I’ve required graduate students to maintain a web log.   Now that we’re about four weeks into the semester, I am reading over their first few blog posts of the academic term.

I can see what happens when you require something that really ought to be informal or something with a personal flair to it.

THE PROBLEMS

Here are five (5) problems I see from requiring something like this in an academic setting:

Problem #1:  The students think they’re writing for me, the professor

Problem #2:  The students are reporting on what we did “in class” as if the reader was in our class and heard the same instructions that they heard last Monday morning.

Problem #3:  Text-only writing  is boring.  Where are the images or graphics that make something appealing to read?  Most of the blog posts are link-less, destined to NOT Be found out here on the World Wide Web

Problem #4: The posts fail to take much of a stand on a controversial or unpopular issue.

There’s little to argue about what someone said in a chapter of a textbook.  They should be finding something to engage an audience in discussion.

Problem #5: Some of the posts feel like they’re written because the teacher is requiring it, not because the writer actually thinks or believes what he or she is saying.  In other words, there’s no conviction.

Here’s the newsflash:  This is ALL MY FAULT.  Just like anything else, students ?(even very bright graduate students) cannot do what they haven’t been taught.

Assuming these digital natives who spend half of their lives in social media know how to maximize this free, open and flexible web space is a BIG MISTAKE.

We all know what assuming does (hint, hint).

SO WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

It’s not enough to pose problems, if I don’t have any solutions.  I think I’ll address those in a later post here.