Abstract
A great deal of what makes college more difficult for educators is the lack of resources, students’ apathy and a sense of powerlessness. Being creative in the face of the mentioned challenges can make a significant difference in terms of engaging students and moving forward. Blogging has been the medium through which I have been able to overcome lack of support. As an adjunct, I knew I was not going to have a budget at my disposal to bring to class the kinds of materials needed to teach arts. It was crucial I focused on those things I did have to impact my students in a positive way. Blogging allowed me to post my lesson plans, my videos and links, publish the work my students completed in class and keep our communication open to react to each other’s creation. It allowed me to document and archive my work as well as my students’ artistic production. Finally, it made possible for us to showcase the processes we experienced in class by inviting others to check our blog-link and see what we had. This study reflects on the use of blogging as an innovative pedagogical tool that provides faculty members and students with a viable way to cope with departmental budgetlessness, student disenfranchisement and professorial stagnation. I use my own students’ reflections, a survey and secondary sources to dialogue with other researchers about the validity of blogging as an alternative teaching strategy that transcends physical borders, cultures and classes.
Presenters
Jorge Morejon BenitezLecturer, Department of Vocal Performance, University of Miami, Florida, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Budgetlessness, Disenfranchisement, Stagnation, Blogging, Transcending
