Does Requiring Blog Posts Make People Learn? A Case Study

Okay, so here it is. The last of 15 posts required for the semester. I've changed my mind about this over the course of the past few hours.

Generally, requiring students to post improves the quality and educational value of the posting. I was wondering if I would just whip through posts to get them done in this class. In truth, I did just whip through several of them right in a row. However, I think I gained valuable insight from reading and writing the posts, and even if no one else from the class reads any of them I think they accomplished most of what they were intended to. I didn't really contribute to online class discussion if you count our class as "over" because I think I am the only one still posting. However, since the academic goals of our class were not limited to just a semester, it seems as though in some standards my posts are still valuable because they can still be read and responded to by others in the general blogging world, or by any member of our class who still peruses other class members' blogs from time to time.

Also, a side-note: I was a Writing Fellow for two semesters and have a whole soap box about how powerful writing is as a mode of learning. It is SO important and helps us in ways that verbalizing and reading cannot. I'm growing my belief that the writing required to communicate in a distance setting is one of it's greatest advantages. Especially if graduate school is all about publishing anyway, blogging is an excellent baby step towards entering official academic conversation.

So I've decided that requiring posts is a valuable approach to communities of inquiry. People need to reflect on what they are learning, and forcing them to articulate some of it will likely help them learn more, remember better, and begins to create the community of learners that is the goal of many distance ed programs. Anytime you get feedback on your articulations, you can improve and expand your thinking, so the interaction possibilities are very valuable as well. I've also decided that posting just takes practice, so requiring people and getting them started in posting will eventually increase their ability and possibly their desire to post on their own. In my opinion, the risk of compromising the posts because they are required is outweighed by the benefits of getting lots of people posting, reflecting, and refining their thoughts.