test

ok - you should all get emails each time someone posts an entry. if you do not want the email notification, please let me know

please let me know by commenting if you were notified via email

followup

chris asked two great questions in meeting 2:
can one be informed via email when a new entry is posted? yes, but there is only one address - so i am experimenting with chris' email. i will see if i can create an email group so we all get it.

can we track who visits our site? it does not appear using basic blogger service that you can do this. you would need your own server, or a different service.

meeting 2

we discussed the following things at our meeting:
compensation - awaiting for an acct number so the contracts can be prepared.
oln conference in spring: will our project be far enough along for me to present. no conclusive answer
our goal: investigate during fall/possibly implement during fall as a pilot/definitely implement in spring
assessment: we need to develop an assessment tool that shows the impact on retention. dorinda and i have met, gotten feedback from marilyn valentino. i'll meet with her.
please practice posting, by posting anything relevant (or irrelevant)
we also brainstormed possible uses in our classes...
i'll be glad to review in more detail anyone who could not make the meeting

the blog police...

many people criticize the internet in general and blogs specifically as having a greater potential of providing unreliable information than traditional media which goes thru *ahem* vigorous fact checking procedures. and that is true - the very ease of blogging makes it possible folks to speak authoritarily about topics they knbow nothing about. and publish it for the world (and our students) to read...

however, the opposite is also true. the blogging community can work as a force to keep the mdia honest. witness the recent cbs controversy. here is an article from the guardian which discusses the role blogging played in questioning the cbs story.

from the article:

CBS's admission that its story of George Bush's special treatment when with the Texas air national guard was deeply flawed is being seen as a key victory for the new "blogging" community of the internet against old media.

This is mainly true. Although papers such as the Washington Post were on the case, the retraction would not have happened when it did but for the efforts of an army of bloggers - writers of online journals - in exposing the documents as fraudulent, including some who authoritatively questioned the authenticity of the documents almost as they were released.

meeting 2

the caviar was a bit stale, but the champagne hit the spot

google

is this trip really necessary?

i am a firm proponent of not having a solution looking for a problem. i believe blogs have potential within education, but i am not married to the idea. the reason for this team is for us to explore together and assess the value of this particular tool within each person's context.

with that in mind, i found a nice article about the pro's and con's of blogging. although it is does not specifically address their educational applications and instead focuses on their business/marketing applications, much of what is said is relevant.

from the article:

There are more advantages than disadvantages to blogging. But the disadvantages will definitely cause your blog's failure and could even put you in the midst of controversy or see you mocked by other bloggers.