Affinity Spaces Discussion

One of the concepts I'd like to explore from Jenkins is James Gee's discussion of "affinity spaces." These are the informal learning cultures that students (and others) can use to mentor each other based on shared interests and goals.

in thinking about Gee's concept, I'd like to offer my own use of group blogs as a case study. In my Rhetoric and Democracy course from Fall 2004 (a whole election ago!), I required students to create group blogs focusing on a campaign issue that was important to them. As you can see, they wrote about a variety of topics, including gay marriage, international affairs, and stem cell research, among other topics (you might skim the sidebar to see how others pursued this project).

While I am aware of some differences--students were required to complete this project; the topics would likely not be relevant to younger students--it might present an interesting case study for class discussion.

Blogging Debates

Next Wednesday's readings are currently being processed by the library. When they are done, all three should be available online. The first two, Jill Walker Rettberg's "From Bards to Blogs" and my "Writing and Citizenship," situate blogging in specific historical contexts. In my case, I explore how my own attempts to use blogs led to a productive debate about the public nature of blogs.

The Kathleen West article is a discussion of how she used blogs for literary response. If the library's copy of the article doesn't show up online soon, then you might start by reading the version linked on this course wiki, a doc file (which may be slow to download depending upon your modem speed).

I would also like you to check out Abby Clobridge's "Adventures with Kyle," a discussion of her use of blogging in an elementary school classroom.