USING COURSE BLOGS TO IMPROVE INTERACTION AND COMMUNICATION OF FRESHMEN STUDENTS

Abstract

⎯ According to the Pew Internet & American LifeProject, 75 percent of young adults aged 18 to 24 use onlinecommunity sites. The young generation consider technologyas an integral part of their daily life. They keep in touch withtheir friends through social networking sites on a dailybasis, they get news from blogs and offer their opinions andcomments on what is happening around them through blogs.When MySpace was introduced in 2004, the currentfreshmen in college were high school students. When theycome to college, they encounter faculty who are trailingthem in online community experience and usage. To takeadvantage of the new freshmen’s affinity for onlinecommunity sites and to get them engaged in discussions, theauthor started blogs for her freshmen courses in fall of 2009.Through this “Work in Progress” paper, she will share herexperience to the conference audience.Index Terms ⎯ Blogs, Freshmen, Course Blogs, First yearstudents.