exploring the intersection of new media and everything else

Two weeks ago I made the decision to require my kids (not literal) to keep a blog for my writing class. They have been doing the required once a week post, but that in of itself is not exciting. I would love to see them move beyond the required and start posting everyday. If any of you readers have any suggestions, please by all means… speak.

What I have found promising, though, is the fact that they have begun to personalize their blogs. As I mentioned on Playing with Words – my blog about my experiences with my class – I think that this small step will help them look at writing as something that is enjoyable, rather than as a task. As the weeks progress, we shall see if my assumption is true.

On a slightly different topic, I had a brief conversation with one of my co-workers (and good friend) the other day. And we discussed the possibility of actually integrating a blog into the course description – that is making it a requirement for all the students taking this course, and not just the ones in my class. I personally think that that is a great idea.

But then came the idea to monetize this… make it an optional paid service that parents could enroll their kids into if they wanted to (FYI I work for a for-profit educational institution). While I have no qualms about making money, unless Chungdahm Learning (the academy I work for) can offer something well above what Wordpress or other free blogging platforms offer, then its a cheat.

So to make this service something worth paying for, the platform must have the following options:

• Ability to create individual, customizable blogs – like Wordpress
• Students must have the ability to link to and incorporate outside media – movies, pictures, etc – and also have the freedom to do so
• Must have a Wiki function – this is a great way to have students collaborate on research and share instructional material
• Social Network – allows students to create unique profiles for the purpose of online discussions, commenting, asking for advice, etc
• Forum – allows students to pose questions about homework or continue discussions started in class
• Chat – similar to the functions that are integrated into Facebook or Gmail so that students know who is online at that moment and thus who they can ask questions to or collaborate with on their homework

The only problem that I see is that if you tie a program like this too closely to school, then regardless of the intentions, the students are likely to reject it just because it is school. That is my two-cents. If you have any other suggestions to add to this list, please let me know.

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