Blogging with the Entire Class

For my English 191 class, I did not set up small groups for the class blogging activity. I wanted all of my students to be able to read entries from every member of the class. With twenty plus students, this means that the postings can have twenty or more comments. With each student writing about 2-3 sentences or a paragraph, this means that there is 2-3 pages of text to read for each posting. If more than one student posts a week, then there is a considerable amount of reading to be done. This reading is on top of required readings for face-to-face class discussions and 1-2 pages of required writing. Plus there are four major papers of 3-4 pages in length. My students have plenty to do for my class.

When I read the blog comments, I can tell some of the students have read the other students' comments. But there is no way to document if they have read the comments or not, as Blogger.com does not this documentation function like D2L does. I am not sure that I care if I know if they have read each other's work. I cannot tell if they do the required class readings either unless they mention some aspect when they are talking or writing. My students are always reading text messages, Facebook entries, and other favorite websites. So I do not think it is too much to expect them to read all the comments, but I do not want to have to quiz them about their reading. Of course I read all the comments and find it fun to read what everyone is thinking and saying. At the college level, it is their choice if they want to learn or not. But I hope that my students will enjoy this blogging activity and learn from their classmates.