The Blogging Journalist

Does Blogging Belong in the Classroom?

Jewell Ludwigsen, writing in a February 3, 2008, post in Tennessee Journalist, "the news web site of the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA, notes that:

The Internet is everywhere. From the classroom to our personal lives, the Web is the thing of the future and will continuously grow. But how far is too far?

If you're interested in her answer, see "Blogging in the classroom." I found it worth my time to read it.

Technorati Tags: The Tennessee Journalist,Jewell Ludwigsen,Classroom Blogging,The Blogging Journalist

Max Pearl's Blogging Under 21

The Boston Globe's Elisabeth Donnelly reported January 3, 2008, that "Brookline [Massachusetts]  native Max Pearl, an 18-year-old student at Hampshire College in Amherst, has a blog called "Under 21 in Boston" (under21inboston.typepad.com). While the project is still young," she writes, 'the website's goal is provide a resource, including an interactive calendar and listings of venues for the "elusive, inaccessible places" - that often lack a solid Internet presence - where events for all ages take place."

I took a look at it and it's definitely interactive. To read more, please see "Blogging under 21."

The Student Newspaper Survival Blog

What's happening at student newspapers in the United States? A good source of information on the subject is a blog called The Student Newspaper Survival Blog. I'm a subscriber

Technorati Tags: Student Newspaper, Student Journalists

A Note To 'Critical Mass' Opinions Editor Andrew Mason

Out of all the posts I read February 18, 2007 in the blogs of the Daily Illini, the student newspaper at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the one that really caught my attention was in Critical Mass, the opinions staff's  blog. It was about publishing letters and opinions surrounding U of I's  decision to retire Chief Illiniwek, the school mascot. The post was written by Opinions Editor Andrew Mason and headlined  Your letters about the Chief. This is what stood out:

Since the DI first started reporting that Chief Illiniwek is going to be retired, I’ve received dozens of letters. This is not surprising and frankly, I was expecting it. The Opinions page normally prints around 2000 words a day so quite obviously I will not have space for everything.

That being said, I intend to publish as many letters about the Chief issue as I possibly can. I don’t know how many that will end up being and I don’t know when I will be able to get the physical space in the newspaper. Until then though, I just want to let you readers know that I am reading *all* of your letters.

Andrew, why do you need space in DI for letters and opinions when you have Critical Mass? If you don't want letters in Critical Mass, start a blog or forum specifically for letters and opinions from students. Don't think paper. Think in terms of the Internet and an online community, where opinions and ideas will be available to anyone interested in reading them. Besides, if a person writes a letter or opinion piece and has to wait until there is space in DI to see it published, he or she might as well create a personal blog and use it to comment on issues covered by the DI and other publications.  

For TBJ readers interested in DI's blogs, they are: (1) DI Insider (2) DI Sports Wrap-up (3) Critical Mass — The Opinions staff; and (4)Just Baseball.

NOTE: This first paragraph of this post was revised February 19, 2007, to make it flow more rhythmically.

UThink Is Serious About Blogging

UThink, a library service  at the University of Minnesota, has a list of 1153 "blogs that have been updated at least once in the last three months." It also has a list of "blogs with the most entries" and the "most comments."

I think this is a gem. In fact, I've bookmarked it.

Marlboro Memorial Middle School's Blogging Students

Ann Hannah, eighth-grade social studies teacher at Marlboro Memorial Middle School in Marlboro, New Jersey, "has set up a blogs in which her students may debate current events and political issues," according to The News Transcript of Farmingdale, New Jersey. The blog is hosted at Open Diary.

According to staff writer Tali Israeli, "Twice a month Hannah chooses two students to post an Internet blog entry on any current events issue. The student who posts the blog is responsible for giving his or her interpretation of the issue while the rest of the students in the class reply to the entry," Israeli wrote in the November 15, 2006, article.

To read more, see "Students' blogs become window on hot topics." Unless I missed it, Israeli didn't post a link to the students' blog. Nevertheless, it's an informative look at how one teacher is using a blog in the classroom.

USA Today: 'Blogging Now Begins Young'

"About 300 eighth-graders at South Valley Junior High in Liberty, Mo., are blogging this fall about Guerrilla Season, a book about a 15-year-old living in Civil War-era Missouri," according to USA TODAY's Ashley Bleimes.

"The book's author, Pat Hughes, is joining in the online discussion from her home in Philadelphia," Bleimes noted in a November 14, 2006, report.

To read more, see "Blogging now begins young. Also see The Guerilla Season Book Blog.

Is Indiana School District Going Too Far With Its Blogging Policy?

Oseye T. Boyd at StarPress.com of Muncie, Indiana "the online news source for east central Indiana," reported October 16, 2006, that "Next week, Clark-Pleasant Schools in Whiteland [Indiana] will vote on a policy that would hold students and teachers legally responsible for Internet postings."

For details, see "Should students be punished for blogging outside of school?" 

Student Journalists Continue To Battle Censorship

On October 8, 2006, The Indianapolis Star published an article on "Censorship in schools." The publication said "Six states have passed free-expression laws that give student journalists the same rights as professional journalists, but Indiana is not one of them. A free-expression bill passed the Indiana House of Representatives on Feb. 11, 1991. The bill later died in a Senate committee," The Star noted.

That leaves 44 states where student journalists are battling "nervous administrators in defending First Amendment rights."

Indianapolis Schools Want To Curtail Student Speech Online

"A growing number of school officials in the Indianapolis area are trying to punish students for Internet commentary they deem inappropriate -- including postings on home computers -- drawing outrage from teens and free-speech advocates," Rebecca Neal at IndyStar.com reported October 1, 2006. IndyStar is the online presence of the Indianapolis (Indiana) Star.

I'm with the students on this. To read more about the dispute, see "Schools punishing kids for what they say online."

Technorati tags: Censoring student blogs, Student blogging

Pioneer Press: 'How Safe is Student Blogging?'

Back on August 3, 2006, the Glenview, IL-based Pioneer Press, which "serves the suburbs of Chicago with 64 community newspapers," asked "How Safe is Student Blogging? "

 

The publication's answer: "Although all [social networking] sites claim to have privacy measures in place, a quick trip around popular Internet blog sites shows there is a limited amount that can be done to provide safety for its users."

Mydeathspace.com

Michael Patterson, the Fort Worth, Texas paralegal who six months ago created Mydeathspace.com to chronicle the deaths of MySpace.com users says he's " hoping that teens will think about something they've seen on the Web site next time they're put in a situation where there's a chance they could hurt themselves," the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported July 2, 2006

According to Star-Telegram Staff Writer Melissa Sanchez said, "Since December, Mydeathspace, which is not affiliated with Myspace, has posted details about 331 deaths, including 50 suicides, Patterson said. Links to the profiles of 15 suspected killers appear next to links to the profiles of the victims.

Sanchez said, "On its biggest day so far, the site recorded 250,000 hits. More than 250 people have registered their e-mail addresses on the site and use the discussion boards to talk about death."

If you are interested in more, see "Internet Site Focuses on MySpace User's Deaths."

Betty Baye: 'New Blog Mother'

Veteran journalist Betty Baye of the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal reported in a June 29, 2006 column that her bosses have assigned her, "a technological Luddite, to be the moderator of a soon-to-come blog featuring 17 Kentucky and Indiana high school and college students."

 

See "Coming soon: A group of young bloggers, and a new blog mother:"

 

I met Baye here in Chicago during the late 1980s. She recruited one of my former colleagues, Lawrence Muhammad, to the Courier-Journal.

Student Uses Blog To Prepare For Politics

Beth Ortega, staff writer for the Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press, reports in a June 4, 2006 article that, "seventeen-year-old Josh Horneck [of Glenbeulah, Wisconsin) has his sites set on becoming a national politician."

"So the recent Faith Christian Academy graduate has created a blog called "Inside the Box" at www.xanga.com/Political_US, where he discusses topics like immigration, the separation of church and state and, more recently, Memorial Day," she wrote..

Ortega quotes Horneck as saying: "When people read my blogs they probably will know where I stand, but it's basically more informative." 

For more, see " Passion for politics ."

This Illinois Student Just Wants to Blog in Peace

According to the May 23, 2006 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times, a 17-year old Plainfield, Illinois student "will face an expulsion hearing this week" for posting a May 1, 2006 "letter to Plainfield School District on www.xanga.com, telling off the district, using vulgar words and saying he could put whatever he wanted on his site,"  See "Student faces expulsion for web post." The source was local attorney Carl Buck.

According to a wire service report in the paper, "On a second post on May 2, without mentioning the school the student wrote:

I feel threatened by you, I cant even have a public Web page with out you bullying me and telling me what has to be removed. Where is this freedom of speech that this government is sworn to uphold? ... Did you ever stop to think this will start a community backlash? The kids at Columbine did what the did because they were bullied. ... In my opinion you are the real threat here. None of us ever put in our xanga's that they were going to kill or bring harm to any one. We voiced our opinions.

The student added, according to the Sun-Times: "You are the real threat here. you are depriving us of our right to learn. now stick that in your pipe and smoke it."

Whether the report is accurate or not, I think there are thousands of students across the station with similar views. I can imagine what some of them will do if this means of expressing themselves is shut-off.

Two Illinois Schools Crackdown on Student Blogging

“Illegal or inappropriate blogging or social behavior over the Internet is now a violation of District 128's student code of conduct at both Libertyville and Vernon Hills High Schools and can lead to denial of extracurricular student privileges,” reports journalist Ed Collins in a May 23, 2006 special to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Collins said, “The board of education of Community High School District 128 approved the revision Monday night [May 22, 2006] without dissent before a packed house of media, parents and students at Vernon Hills High School. It is one of the first such school board policies in Illinois to address some of the risque social mores students frequently encounter when surfing Internet blogs and various Web sites designed to attract children.”

For the entire article, please see “Schools crack down on inappropriate blogs.” Also see “Students beware: Web content could lead to trouble.” 

Just as parents and schools couldn’t stop students from dancing and listening to rock and roll during the 1950s and ‘60s, they won’t be successful in trying to stop online social networking, regardless of its negatives, among students, Hip hop music or Rap faced the same pressure during the ‘80s and ‘90s but it’s still here. Interestingly, most Hip hop records are bought by white suburban kids, the same students schools are trying to keep from using MySpace and other networking sites. As with many thing in America, online student social networking will be around until something new comes along to displace it.

Florida Schools Block 'Thousands of Websites'

Miami Herald Reporter Matthew I. Pinzur reported May 22, 2006 that, “Thousands of websites are blocked on school computers in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, including pornography, video games, gambling and MySpace, the wildly popular social-networking service.”

For more, see “Schools, students match wits over Web access.”

Blog Entries Could Lead to Discipline at Two Illinois Schools

Russell Lissau, a reporter at the Arlington Heights, Illinois Daily Herald reported May 11, 2006 that, "Students at Libertyville and Vernon Hills high schools [in suburban Chicago] better be careful about what they say about themselves or friends online: Administrators could be watching."

"Blog entries implicating teens in illegal or improper activity — even off-campus hi-jinks — could lead to disciplinary action under a proposal before the Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128 board," Lissau noted. He said, "The measure is included in updated codes of conduct for teens participating in extracurricular, athletic and fine-arts activities. The school board will vote on the changes May 22."

For more, please see "District warns bloggers don’t write about illegal  activities, or you’ll pay price."

Mark Cubans Advice To Parents About MySpace

Forbes magazine has a post that parents with blogging teenagers might be interested in. It's headlined "Mark Cuban Advises Parents Re Searching MySpace." The 48-year old Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

One Texas High School Has Nearly 1,000 MySpace Profiles

The Bryan-College Station Eagle of Bryan, Texas reported May 7, 2006 that "concerns" are growing as Bryan High School "students replace locked diaries with blogging."

"Search MySpace.com for current Bryan High students, and the results show nearly 1,000 profiles, which is about a quarter of the school population wrote Eagle staff writer Holly Huffman.

She said, "A similar search for A&M Consolidated students turns up almost as many, which is more than a third of College Station students."

For more, please see "Concerns grow as students replace locked diaries with blogging."

'MySpace Security Starts With Parents'

The Post-Crescent of Appleton, Wisconsin said in a May 5, 2006 editorial that "MySpace security starts with parents."  The paper noted:

MySpace makes efforts to provide a safe environment: the 14-year-old age minimum, restricted access to younger members and software that profiles and identifies possible younger members listing fake ages.

But there's no way to guarantee its security, any more than you can guarantee criminals can't get into a mall to target children. MySpace presents no more danger than any other Web site.

According to the Post-Crescent, "What can change is parents' knowledge of MySpace and other Web sites. Understanding your child's social interaction in the 21st century, setting reasonable limits on it and keeping watch on his or her activities is far more effective than any program MySpace can devise. 

Columnist to Teachers: 'Your Face May Be On MySpace'

Terry Bibo, a columnist with the Peoria (Illinois) Journal-Star, observed in an April 23, 2006 article that, "Once upon a time, the occasional teacher was dismayed to find her name scrawled on the bathroom wall."

"Nowadays," Bibo wrote, "she's just as likely to find it blasted through cyberspace, but the feeling remains the same."

To read her thought-provoking column, please see "Your face may be on MySpace."

C|net News.com: 'Are You Watching What Your Kids Post'?

Tim Donovan, "Vice president of marketing at Industrious Kid," raises important questions about children and online safety in an April 18, 2006 C|net News.com's article headlined "Perspective: Are you watching what your kids post?" Well, are you?

What's a Personal Finance Blog?

Kelly Riddell of Northwestern University's Medill News Service posted a thought-provoking article online April 11, 2006 headlined "How much am I worth? Check out my personal finance blog."

It's about the alleged "popularity" of personal finance blogs. The kind where you post your finances online. Would you do it?

Are Some Teens Addicted to 'Online Directories'?

On April 9, 2006, Julie Finley of The Natchez (Mississippi) Democrat had an article in the paper headlined "Teens say online directories addictive but valuable tools." I found it very informative.

'The Dirty Laundry Project'

Marcia Moore, writing in the April 11, 2006 edition of The Daily Item, a paper in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, said "Sit-ins, candlelight vigils and marches were once a mark of college campus activism. At Susquehanna University today, it's all about blogging." She revealed:

Students there are logging on to their computers and expressing their personal experiences with racism, homophobia, classism and intolerance on a student-operated computer Web log, or blog, known as The Dirty Laundry Project.
.
The blog a frequently updated online journal was launched in late March and provides an open forum for a wide range of issues and concerns on campus.

Moore said, "So far, nearly 50 contributors have posted comments about their experiences with sexual assault, bigotry and racism on and off the Selinsgrove campus."

For please see "Nethead." Note: Links added for clarity.

The Whitworthian: 'Facebook Used to Incriminate

Clinton Lipscomb, staff writer at The Whitworthian, the student newspaper at Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington reported April 4, 2006, that Dick Mandeville, the college's Associate Dean of Students, "confirmed reports that an undisclosed number of Whitworth students have received Big Three violations for photographs found on Facebook.com."

"Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Mandeville could not divulge the number of incidents or the names of students involved, though he did say that the violation(s) involved alcohol on campus," Lipscomb wrote, adding:

"As a private institution, Whitworth has legal authority to use evidence found on Facebook to reprimand violations of policy, former lawyer and current professor of politics Julia Stronks said."

For more, please see "Facebook used to incriminate."

Students Introduce Professor to Blogging

Mark Franek, "dean of students at William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia," according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote in a March 28, 2006, article:

Until about three months ago, I thought that a blog was a particularly big clog in my kitchen sink. But over the last few months my students have introduced me to a world I hardly knew existed. Recently, the technology director at my school taught me how to set up and manage my own blog. Now I use the Internet site to showcase my own writing and to communicate with my students about coming writing projects.

Franek noted that "Blogs have been the subject of a lot of negative press lately." He listed three "misconceptions" about blogging, which he describes in "Blogs teach big lessons."

A Mich. School District Holds a Dangers of the Internet Seminar

WOOD TV of Grand Rapids, Michigan, reported March 29, 2006, that "Internet-related issues in one local school district prompted school leaders and police to hold a meeting Tuesday night [March 28, 2006] to educate parents."

For more, please see "Dangers of Internet seminar held in East Grand Rapids."

Can College Officials Keep Up With Internet Savvy Students?

Matt Krupnick at the Contra Costa (California) Times reports in a March 27, 2006, article that, "College administrators are figuring out just how essential Facebook and MySpace are for the proper care and feeding of students."

He said, "Hundreds of student-affairs officials from campuses around California arrived at UC Berkeley on Monday [March 27, 2006] for pointers on the increasingly difficult task of keeping up with students' Internet savvy. Monday's sessions focused on the ever-increasing use of social-networking sites, such as the popular MySpace and Facebook sites," Krupnick noted.

For more, please see "College officials ponder effects of FaceBook, MySpace. Also see "Sex predators' use of MySpace.com alarms legislator."

Fort Wayne Students, Staff in 'Battle of Wits' Over Blog Sites

The Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal-Gazette reported March 26, 2006, that, "Although they’re not supposed to, students at Fort Wayne Community Schools have had the ability to log on to some of the most popular teen Web sites – Facebook.com and MySpace.com – during school. Technicians started blocking the most common blog sites Thursday [March 23, 2006]. But by Friday [March 23, 2006], students had already found ways around the new blocks."

The Journal-Gazette said, "FWCS spokeswoman Debbie Morgan said the district will continue working to keep students away from the sites. School officials say these blogs not only distract students from doing their assigned work but make them vulnerable to online predators."

School administrators should know by now that they are not technically savvy enough to keep all students away from the sites at school unless they remove all computers or the Internet connection. The only way it will work is if students decide they will abide by schools rules. It's similar to inmates in prison. They could overwhelm prison guards anytime they want to but rarely do.

For more, see "Banned sites pit students, staff in battle of wits."

Some Students Learning to Blog in the Classroom

On March 13, 2006, the Chicago Tribune published an article headlined "Blogs taking a seat in, out of classrooms." It's about elementary students learning how to blog. Hopefully, it will help them develop life long habits of reading and writing.

Blogging at MSU Puts Spark into Student Journalism

City Pulse, a newspaper of Lansing, Michigan, reports in its March 1, 2006, edition that bloggers are Michigan State University are "injecting life into campus journalism" through "SpartanEdge.com, a new student-operated news media Web site."

The publication said "the site hosts more than 20 blogs. For more, please see "Bloggers injecting life into campus journalism."