First Time for Everything

I don’t want to just sit here and begin talking about how I have been writing all of my life and how I have kept a diary for years, so I won’t, I will simply begin my first weblog entry, by saying, “I am stepping into new territory, and I do not know the ins and outs of this weblogging-blogging-logging-bloggorama that my college professor loves.” —Amanda Cochran
First Time for Everything (Girl Meets World)

Stand back — here come new bloggers!

Amanda is taking both of the classes in which I introduced blogging this week. She’s distinguished herself by her enthusiasm and her love of writing (and by the fact that she happens to be in all three classes I teach this term).

She’s everything that I love about Seton Hill — the positive outlook on life, the cheerful enthusiasm, and the eagerness to roll up her sleeves and get to work. Amanda has confided a few private worries, as well — and that’s part of the game. Here’s hoping that Amanda’s weblogging excursion is a rewarding one.

If you have the chance, check out some of the other student blogs on a new group site, New Media Journalism @ Seton Hill University.

Plugs: Thanks to the administration at Seton Hill University for giving this project the go-ahead. And thanks to the good folks at MovableType, who are letting me set up a free blog for any student or staff member at Seton Hill. Dave Cornelson of Placet Soultions, Inc. is hosting the site for a very reasonable fee.

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  • Dennis and Rosemary, Thank you for letting me know what to expect in San Antonio. I am most looking forward to my trip and opportunity to present my research. The PCA conference is one mile away from the Riverwalk and I also plan on checking out the Alamo.

  • I visited San Antonio on my first business trip years ago and enjoyed the 1.5 hrs I had free for sightseeing. I liked the riverwalk and also saw the Alamo, but was greatly disappointed to find that it is right downtown next to the mall and not out on the plaines like I imagined. There was a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum which I didn't have time for but it looked cheezy and fun.

  • San Antonio is a wonderful place... if your conference isn't actually on the riverwalk, don't miss the chance to visit it. It's really beautiful. A bit muggy, but still very nice this time of year.

  • Go Dennis! Someday I hope my drive catches up to your motivation. I wonder sometimes if you are not a human Duracell. Maybe you could give me some travel hints about San Antonio before I go there in two weeks after the conference.

  • Yes, I'd also like to map the grades the student received in the blog component of the class (if appropriate) and so forth.
     
     The presentation went well, I think. When I get home I'll put up a version of the presentation.

  • Did you ask your students to rate how happy/satisfied they were with their blogging experience? If so, it would be interesting to see if those who said they had positive blogging experiences had more entries and/or comments.

  • If you have time to do so I would like to see the chart sorted by number of entries. Just interested in seeing the difference.

  • Rosemary, you're right, that graph is impossible to read for any one particular blog, but I did think the shape was interesting. The biggest figures, for both comments and entries, are on the left. It's a smoother curve when sorting by comments than when sorting by number of entries, though at the moment I don't know what that means!

  • Actually Bobby, I'm in San Antonio right now, typing this from a public library. I plan to be back home long before then! Still, it would have been nice to meet up with you.

  • Dennis,
     Hey! Here again you mentioned an upcoming conference in San Antonio. I plan on being there from April 6-10 for the Popular Culture Association conference presenting one of my research articles on DC Comics' Green Lantern. Will your 4Cs conference take place then?

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Dennis G. Jerz

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