I’ve already mentioned that more and more universities/colleges use freshman blogs as promotional tools to give prospective students and their parents a preview of the first-year college life on their campus.
In “Professors introduce blogs in class assignments,” an article published in The Chronicle, Mingyang Liu reports on the chair of Duke Department of Political Science’s blogging:
[…] Munger said he has also become supportive of blogging for academic purposes because it can improve communication between students and professors.
“I think it has an important pedagogic purpose,†he said. “The blog form, which has evolved naturally, is the best way of having a conversation [online].â€
If prospective students could witness some of these great conversations between professors and students by reading a class blog, wouldn’t it be a great way to get them an online preview of your institution’s academic excellence?
According to Will Richardson, the K-12 blog expert behind Weblogg-Ed, the read/write web in the classroom, such online conversations are taking place right now on numerous high school class blogs.
By showcasing a good class blog – next to your freshman blogs – in your admission web area, you can help prospective students find out what your institution is all about – campus life and academics – in a format they know and trust.
Do you do it at your college or university? Let me know by emailing me at karine@collegewebeditor.com or post a comment below.
