Blog rubric

Here is one educator's handout for both a filter style blog and a notebook style blog. Included are the assignments that he gives the students and the rubrics that he uses to score them.

http://dmc.umn.edu/kurtis/pod/blog_rubrics.doc


-----Original Message-----
From: Professional & Organization Development Network in Higher Education [mailto:POD@listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Kurtis Scaletta
Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 12:29 PM
To: POD@listserv.nd.edu
Subject: [POD] Blog Rubrics

Enough people have responded that I'll try sending this to the group.

As I feared, attachments don't work with the listserv, and my message was rejected. You can get the file here:

http://dmc.umn.edu/kurtis/pod/blog_rubrics.doc

One person asked to share them, "especially if they're good." I hesitate to make that claim, but hopefully these can generate discussion, and your feedback would help me improve them. :-)

A word or two about the assignments that accompany these rubrics: the two most common forms of blog are (to use the labels made popular in blogging circles by Rebecca Blood) "filters" (the annotated links that comprised the first blogs) and "notebooks" (the internet diaries that have overtaken the form). I see both of these as having educational value, so I've got an example of each, the "webliography" and the reflective learning journal. In each case, the assignments show unstructured vs. structured assignments, and give context to the rubric that follows. I've generally suggested that the less structured assignments are likely to fail, particularly with undergraduates, but this may have more to do with how well the students are prepared for the assignment than how the assignment is described. For example, a filter-style blog would require students to know how to do critical reading of the media, and class time could be given to developing that skill -- just telling them to be critical won't help. Also, with the notebook style blogs I tend to waffle a bit because of the tension between giving students a personal writing space and then imposing rules on it (this is a quandary for which I have no answer but it's one I find interesting and worth debating).

Now, about the rubrics. I've tried to keep the rubrics fairly general. The descriptions are especially general, and could be bolstered with specific content to each assignment. I think the dimensions of the rubric (research, engagement, participation, writing) are the right ones to assess, but how those are operationalized is debatable. By the way, the ordering of these are no accident -- I consider research to be the most important aspect of the "filter" style blog, and "engagement" to be the most important aspect of the "notebook" style blog. In the latter case, I want the interactions and connections to be stressed so that the difference between blogs and private journals are explicit.

I look forward to your feedback.

Best,

- Kurtis
--
Kurtis Scaletta
Digital Media Center
University of Minnesota
212 Walter Library
(612) 624-1323
http://dmc.umn.edu
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~kurtis