Rather than looking into my blog to see if I have any new comments and then staying on my own page to read and reply, I go to my blogroll and move out into other people’s blogs, to see what they are up to. —Torill Mortenson —Noted difference (thinking with my fingers)
Torill comments on her recent change to a comment-free blog. When I recently wrote a brief definition of blogs, some conversations I’d had with Torill were in the back of my mind when I relegated comments to a subordinate position.
While comments are a big part of a lot of blogs, a blog can still be a blog without comments.
Since the blogging evaluation rubric that I use asks students to comment on each other’s posts, I am conscious that the pedagogical value I place on having students read and comment on peer entries is skewing the way my students approach academic blogging.
In an effort to reduce the workload on students who dislike blogging, I started out the year without requiring students to post blog entries that link to peer blog entries. Those students who have blogged before or who early on figured out the value of cross-blog links are doing them, but I haven’t required it.