Earlier this week, Reader Kimberly McGrath, Web Content Editor at Wake Forest University, emailed about an interesting blogging experience taking place at her institution:
This week we have seventeen students on a service trip to New Orleans. Thought you might be interested in seeing the blog.
The students are doing an awesome job writing about their experiences.
Well ahead of time, we contacted the student leaders to explain that we wanted prospective students, alumni, parents and other interested folks to see what Wake Forest students are doing —especially since our University motto is Pro Humanitate.
Taking time to meet with the students and prep them about what we hope to do through the blog seems to have helped.
Less than a week after this group blog was launched, the 14 students involved in this service trip have posted a total of 20 posts providing very vivid snapshots of their experience as in the following excerpt from a post written by Jermyn Davis, “City Wide Internet:”
It’s about 9:40 a.m. and we are very lost trying to get to St. Bernard’s Community Center, but thanks to the city-wide internet we are able to blog from the car! The irony that we are blogging with city-wide Internet and driving past boarded-up houses resonates very deeply with the group and reminds us why we came here. We have been told that much progress has been made, but there is clearly still a lot of work to be done.
It’s not the first time that a blog is used this way, but it’s definitely a good example.
Got others to share with all of us? Post a comment (and why not nominate them for the eduStyle and collegewebeditor.com Awards in the student blog category, if they are really good?)
Our students are doing this as well, also from New Orleans!
NC State students did the same from a few sites in the Dominican Republic. http://www.ncsu.edu/blog/servicebreak/
Thanks for sharing your link, Amy!