[Air-l] Feedback on my forthcoming class at NYU

[Heath Row]

Some of the respondents asked whether I planned to share others' feedback
with folks, so I thought I would, with my comments in response. I hope I
don't offend anyone by "outing" them. If you emailed me and I also emailed
you solely personally, I didn't include you in this roundup. That means one
person. Otherwise, this is the lot.

***

LIST MEMBER

Patricia Lange

INPUT

There's a reading by Bonnie Nardi called "Why we Blog" which I don't have
the citation for to hand but you should find rather easily.

[The link in question is
http://www.darrouzet-nardi.net/bonnie/pdf/Nardi_why_we_blog.pdf . I also
considered
http://www.darrouzet-nardi.net/bonnie/pdf/Nardi_blog_social_activity.pdf ]

For social action there is a recent special issue of Scholar & Feminist
Online which you might be interested in:

http://www.barnard.edu/sfonline/blogs/index.htm

Also, I didn't see citations for video blogging. I am studying the
vlogosphere as part of an anthropology project. I have an article on social
aspects of video blogging in the special issue called "The Vulnerable Video
Blogger: Promoting Social Change Through Intimacy"

http://www.barnard.edu/sfonline/blogs/lange_01.htm

And finally, if your course is orientated toward teaching people how to
blog, there is a hand book called Secrets of Videoblogging by Michael Verdi
and Ryanne Hodson that may be of interest.

MY RESPONSE

Pat's feedback was among the most useful because it identified a perceived
gap or lack and offered readings and resources that could meet that need. I
actually include a day on multimedia usage in blogs, defining that as audio,
photography, and video. Pat's resources add valuable readings to the
syllabus. That day, I plan to have, in addition to my lecture, a panel
discussion featuring area podcasters, photobloggers, and videobloggers, so
the input is especially welcome.

***

LIST MEMBER

Erika Pearson

INPUT

I am a little vague though on how you will be incorporating the blogs into
class - both in terms of linking them to course aims and objectives, and how
the student blogs fit into the assessment schedule.  I am currently playing
with different uses of blogs as part of the assessable work for my course,
so I'd love to hear a bit more detail on your approach.

MY RESPONSE

I emailed Erika indicating that the class will largely be run using a blog,
http://blogospherism.blogspot.com, and that it will share commentary,
exercises, and other items. In between sessions, the class will be the blog
-- and student blogs. In addition, the students will be assessed in part
based on a blog they launch and run during the class, on a topic of their
choosing. This is the first time I've used this method, and if welcome, I'll
share feedback after the fact.

***

LIST MEMBER

Eric Goldman

INPUT

There are a number of legal aspects to blogging, including the problems with
group blogs.  See http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=898048

MY RESPONSE

I will consider this resource and include it if appropriate. That session is
relatively late in the course, so I haven't spent a lot of time on the link.
That doesn't mean it's not useful.

***

LIST MEMBER

Peter Timusk

INPUT

Sorry if this seems anti American but you don't seem to have much
international content this after all the Internet for instance I am in
Canada and can suggest studies done by my employer statistics Canada for
internet studies. I don't think they have blogs studied yet though yet.

visit www.statcan.ca

there are many other country blogs with native language and English.

MY RESPONSE

My bias toward the Web and blogging is that it's international in scope, so
I tend to lean toward the implicit vs. explicit. That said, it's a valid
point that my approach might not be _explicit enough_. Rest assured that the
class will not focus solely on the American experience. Instead,
international examples and issues will be woven throughout -- just like in
the Web. My personal response to Peter might not have communicated this,
because I was seeking concrete gaps in terms of topics and resources.
Barring additional suggestions, I'm left to my own devices.

***

Class starts Wednesday. I'm jazzed. Will let people know how it goes!

Heath

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Heath Row | mediadiet.net | advercise.blogspot.com
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