What do you like / dislike about leaving comments? How did you feel when you received your first comment? Why do you think commenting is so important in online communities? What might this mean for students who share their writing online?
What I like about reading and commenting on blogs is getting new ideas from other participants and being able to offer ideas, information, links, etc. What I don’t like about commenting on blogs is that sometimes what you mean to say is not exactly what comes across. It is so easy to be misunderstood when the reader can’t see your facial expressions, body language, and intonation. Sometimes I worry that I might unintentionally offend someone.
It was exciting to receive the first comments on my blog because it validated my thoughts and ideas. It also gave me a sense of pride in my blog that someone else felt it worthy of their time to read and leave comments. It’s like getting a surprise in the mail!
Without comments, on-line “communities” could not exist. Blogs would become soliloquies. Communities need a way for members to interact and on-line communities do that through posts and replies to posts.
When teachers ask their students to write, one very important consideration is who the audience will be. When students know their work will be shared with an authentic audience, they are more likely to take it seriously and perform at their best. I also believe that blogging can be a wonderful tool for revising student work. Students could post their drafts and other students could offer comments through peer editing. It would be a good vehicle to establish a learning community where students have the opportunity to share their knowledge and abilities and learn from one another.
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Yes, I agree that there's something risky about commenting and receiving comments when the meaning of words can be so easily misconstrued. Coming in "cold" to a conversation makes for all sorts of possible misunderstandings. However, as you've observed, classroom communities are a little "safer" in that the kids know they are writing for their peers, and the commenters and commentees are not strangers to each other, like you and I are:-).
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