Blogs, Journals, and Wikis provide students and instructors with social learning spaces and tools to express their thoughts, reflect on their learning, either privately (with the instructor) or publicly (with others in the course), and work collaboratively on documents and projects. These tools allow all course users to create and share ideas, while instructors maintain the ability to edit or remove any inappropriate material.
Instructors can create Blogs, Journals, and Wikis directly within the Content area of Blackboard Module. Instrutors can comment or grade these directly within the Blog, Journal or Wiki. Entries and participation can also be graded within the Grade Center as usual.
Blogs and Journals:
Users create entries which are added to their Blog or Journal. The entries can be saved as drafts or published and then edited later. When entries are added to the Blog or Journal, they are added automatically to an index organized by date. A "New" indicator displays on entries and comments the user has not viewed. Entries can also be re-marked as "New" to create a reminder.
When setting up a blog, the instructor can specify whether the blog is to an individual or course blog.
Individual blogs – Instructors can easily create a blog space for each student to publicly share thoughts and work with others in the course and receive comments and feedback. This means only the owner of the blog is able to post blog entries. All other users enrolled in the course are able to view and add Comments.
Course blogs – All users in the course can share their thoughts and work in one common area everyone can read and comment on.
All entries are posted to the same page to help promote collaboration among all course members.
Users can add entries and comment on entries anonymously to maintain privacy.
Group blogs – Groups of students can collaboratively post thoughts and comment on each others' work.
Other users in the course can also view and comment on the group members' entries.
Individual journals – Students can record their course experiences and what they are learning.
A student journal can be private communication between a student and the instructor or the instructor can allow them to be shared with everyone in the course. Journal entries can only be commented on by the author and the instructor.
Group journals – Groups of students can reflect collaboratively on their course work and comment on their fellow group members' findings. Journal entries may be added by other group members.
Wikis:
Both instructors and students can easily create content such as study guides, shared notes, etc. in wiki pages. Other users can view, edit, and comment on those pages.
Students can use the wiki to collaborate on content for the course as well as for group projects. Instructors can also use the wiki for collaborative group projects where the Wiki's history and participation summary tools give more in-depth insight when assessing individual contributions for grading.
Course wikis – All course members can participate collaboratively on content.
Group wikis – Members of a group can work on collaborative projects.
Instructors specify whether and when students are allowed to view and/or edit a particular wiki.
Wikis can contain multiple pages, and courses can have multiple wikis.
Pages can be linked to make it easy to interconnect pages.
Page navigation allows users to navigate quickly between the wiki's pages even if users don't add links within the page content.
Versioning allows for complete tracking of content changes in the wiki.
Users can see a comparison between two versions of a wiki page at a time to see the specific changes a user made to the page.
What's the difference between a Blog and a Journal?
A journal is an on-going reflection or record of events by an individual or set of individuals, usually a private communication between the individual(s) and the instructor. A Blog is a commentary by an individual or set of individuals that is for public consumption and comment within the course.
How do I setup a blog for students in Blackboard?