My intention with this project is to have my students present their argument topic along with their research using blog entries instead of the more traditional written essay. Students will be using the subject they have been working with all semester to formulate and argue their position on one side of their issue using information they gathered during the research essay portion of our course. Before beginning their blog, students will clearly define stance in a thesis statement and outline their argument presentation based on how they see their blog entries progressing. Students from both of my English 111 courses will be required to review the blogs of their peers and become involved with at least two blogs which pique their interests by commenting on the blog entries, asking questions, and generating conversation. In addition, by using an online blog source such as blogger.com, the students may receive additional comments from the broader community. My goal for this project as well as for the overall semester is to see my students each develop a level of expertise in a chosen area. This not only allows them to engage intelligently and clearly in a discourse community but provides them with the understanding that it takes more than words to make a point or win an argument – it takes understanding of language usage and rhetorical strategies as well as topic knowledge.
In addition to my students presenting their argument in blog format, I will be using my personal blog, “Beth’s Mental Wanderings,” on blogger.com to record and track my findings and observations with this project. As I work towards my personal goal of finding ways to break down the barriers of language in composition, I will focus my comments on the literature I review, my own musings, and feedback from my students as the project progresses in an effort to determine if, as I suspect, Web 2.0 technology is the force which will finally break down the walls surrounding English composition and its access to students from different countries and different backgrounds, even those within the physical United States of America. I firmly believe that somehow, somewhere, there is a source or sources which will bring our world together on a more level playing field so that we can communicate, through writing, globally in ways that create better understanding instead of further separation.
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