Next Time I Should Have My Students Blog Their Projects

Tomorrow the term-project is due in the gen-ed class. I gave the class two options: write a paper (following the fairly restrictive guidelines I spelled out) or else volunteer in an elementary school during the children's math lesson. To get credit for the "service" option, I have my students write up a "journal" of what they did during each visit to the school and to summarize their experiences in a short reflection paper.

Instead of having them turn it all in at the end, I should have them write something online as they do it. Maybe a blog or maybe in one of the zillions of "modules" in our Blackboard software. Maybe something else? What I'd like is for all of the students in the class to be able to see what's going on in the service learning experience and for me to have a chance to give the students feedback during the semester.

It would also cut down on the demoralizing heap of papers that I'd have to lug around to deal with the grading.