UThink
Definition
UThink is a Web-based tool maintained by the University Libraries that enables students, instructors, and staff members at the University of Minnesota to asynchronously create and view blogs.
Blogs (short for "Weblogs") are Web sites organized in reverse chronological order, with the newest entries on top. They can be set up quickly and updated regularly by people with little or no Web programming experience. This format and function supports personal "diary" style writing, but blogs are also used to express political opinions, discuss hobbies and interests, "think out loud" on academic subjects, and as a form of first-person reporting.
Educational Uses
Blogs help writers make reflective writing, and engaging audiences through effective writing, a habit. While blogs are particularly suited for contributions by individual authors, they also provide opportunities for writers to interact with people at all levels of expertise who are interested in a common topic. Blogs also provide writers with a space to organize and annotate links or bibliographic entries and to critique news stories and other media sources. These features support many potential educational uses of blogs, particularly when students are given their own writing space rather than sharing a class-wide blog. For example, they can be used to
- keep reflective journals on class topics,
- create annotated bibliographies and/or "webographies,"
- post drafts of papers and solicited peer feedback,
- brainstorm about class reports or projects, and
- maintain a list of news articles relevant to a particular topic.
Issues
Blogs are public Web spaces that potentially can be read by anyone. Therefore, instructors should make students aware of privacy issues that apply to them and people they write about. Remind your students: "Think before you blog," keeping in mind the issues below.
- UThink blogs are usually public and can be easily traced back to their authors, so instructors should obtain students’ consent before requiring them to post work on UThink.
- Blogs that involve other people (for example, journals kept by teaching interns) should be password protected.
- Students should remember that even if a blog is obscure but publicly available, it might be discovered and read by anyone. For example, rants about professors, peers, or coworkers can be discovered and read by those people.
- Bloggers also should be aware of copyright laws, as any images, texts, and other content they include in their blogs may be protected by copyright.
- Instructors should be aware that assessment can be difficult with blogs, since there is a natural tension between giving students their "own space," and moderating and grading their use of that space. Some instructors grade on participation only, so students feel more in control of their own writing space.
Examples
See the following for examples of how others are using this type of tool to enhance learning.
Blogs and Wikis
Read our article about how Tim Gustafson, associate director of the composition program in the Department of English at the University, has used blogs and wikis in his classes.
Edublog Awards
Edublog Awards have been given to "scholarly and education focused bloggers" since 2004; links to the award-winning blogs are available on the award site.
UThink Directory
You can find UThink blogs listed alphabetically by title, chronologically by most recent entries, and numerically by blogs with the most entries or comments on the UThink Directory page.
Resources
The following sources may help you use and teach with this type of tool.
Blogger
This online tool enables anyone to create anonymous/pseudonymous blogs for free.
Bloglines
This free blogging tool includes advanced search capabilities and weblog aggregators.
EDUCAUSE Resources
EDUCAUSE maintains a searchable database of guides and articles about technology-enhanced learning topics, including educational blogging.
LiveJournal
This free blogging tool has added functionality that makes it possible to create communities, share blogs, release blog entries to groups of users, and create custom aggregation pages. Because it is more powerful, it takes longer to learn how to use it.
Research
The following research literature has been published about educational uses of this type of tool.
Gurak, Laura J., Smiljana Antonijevic, Laurie Johnson, Clancy Ratliff, and Jessica Reyman, eds. "Into the Blogosphere." University of Minnesota. http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/.
This online, edited collection of academic essays about blogs is available via UThink.
