E-Portfolios &/or Blogging with First Year Undecided Students

As I am preparing for another semester of UB 101 (First Year Experience Course), I have spent some time reviewing my syllabus. One of the assignments I am considering for the course is the creation of an E Portfolio which is designed to be maintained throughout the undergraduate experience.

Is anyone else using blogging/e-portfolios with their students? How about incorporating them into FYE courses?

Here is the tentative assignment. Any feedback appreciated.

Assignment #1
Create an E-Portfolio

Note: "E-portfolio" and "blog" will be used interchangeably throughout this piece (and the semester). They are referring to the same thing.

The most important question first:

Why:

• Will increase your visibility on the Internet and connect you with topics you care about. This in turn can lead to OPPORTUNITIES!
• Employers love them!
  
• You will graduate with something tangible; can continue to use after you leave
• Allow for collaboration; where opportunities are born and learning takes place
• Opportunity to help others interested in your field
• Can utilize any media you choose; suits all learning styles...if you don't like to write, post video!
  
• Free & required

Who:

• You as the author
• Classmates & the public as the audience & collaborators

OK time for specifics...

What:

• Watch this video
• Create your E-portfolio via Blogger (If you already have a blog, start a fresh one just for your E-portfolio)
• Be sure to make your blog URL something identifiable to you (e.g., jillianreading.blogspot.com) so that employers can find it easily. If you are uncomfortable with this at least use something professional/creative (e.g., johneportfolio.blogspot.com). Let me know if there are questions on what is appropriate for our purposes. I MUST BE ABLE TO DISCERN WHO THE AUTHOR OF THE E-PORTFOLIO IS!
  
• Watch some additional videos on e-portfolios & blogging
• Uploading a Video with Blogger
• Adding a gadget to your blog
• Creating a blog list
• E Portfolios for Starters
• E Portfolio Rationale
• When contributing to your E-portfolio be sure to spell check, use proper grammar and adhere to a professional writing standard.
  
• Write or create a video post which answers the following 2 questions as your first entry
• What do you hope to learn while studying at the University at Buffalo? This needs to go beyond one or two sentences. Really consider what your educational goals are and where you want to be at the end of your undergraduate career.
  
• Describe your dream career. What would the typical day consist of? What would your office look like? Who are your clients? Do you work alone or in a group?Give as much detail as possible
  
• Email me the URL of your blog & your name by __________
  

When:

• Ideally you will update your e-portfolio whenever you have a piece of finished work (e.g., research paper, presentation, project)
• You should at minimum update it at least once per month
  
• For this course, you will receive a few portfolio assignments but you are welcome to add anything additional that you feel is a good representation of your work
  

3 Unconventional Ways Academic Advisors Can Use Blogs with Advisees

Exploration and Documentation

In the past, many educators have used blogs to assist students in creating portfolios of their work whether it be throughout a course or a semester. I propose that advisors have their freshman students begin blogging when initial contact is made for course scheduling the summer prior to their arrival. Advisors could send out prompts to get the student started and then periodically require posting throughout their undergraduate experience. Since I work with undecided students, perhaps this could help them work through the process of finding what they love and excel at. Criticisms that I can think of right off the bat might be that students will not follow through with the assignments or that it would be difficult for advisors to read through all of those blog entries. My response to this is to consider the type of work that we currently undergo to help students select best-fit majors and then assist them in researching them. Blogs might just allow us to do this more efficiently, create a portfolio of student work and allow us to refer other students back to these blogs in the future for reference. That seems pretty efficient to me. 

 Workshop Archive 

Blogging is a collaborative medium and as such allows for groups of students to interact with each other easily. Many centers offer workshops throughout the semester on topics such as grades, time management, choosing a major and other like topics. Perhaps if the resources that we use to put on these workshops were created within one large "workshop"  blog, students would be able to access this information anytime they wanted to. This method would also eliminate the need to reinvent the wheel everytime a new semester rolls around. Whenever possible, a simple edit of the materials would do. Students could also collaborate with each other and contribute to the discussion. 

     A Repository of Knowledge

 Create one centralized blog for all of your personal advisee's as opposed to the main blog for your center. This may seem like duplicating work that's already been done, but think of it this way... how often do you send out emails which reiterate what's already been stated many times before elsewhere? A centralized blog could keep all of your students updated with one post. Emails could be sent out everytime you update without any additional work on your part. You could also post pre-appointment assignments that you would like students to complete, add important websites, etc. 

Academic Advisors Can Use Blogs with Advisees

Is blogging a thing of the past?

I had an interesting comment to a post on the NACADA linked in group that I belong to. A poster commented that blogging is already becoming passe and perhaps is now "old news."

I'm in complete disagreement with this since blogging seems to be a phenomenon that is just now catching on and going mainsteam. Even if people didn't read my blog, I would definitely continue to write it. It's a great way to document my work, interact with others, or even to use as a portfolio.

What say you? Is blogging a thing of the past?