2008 Woodie Awards
Students connect through the Web
Maggie Te Grotenhuis
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: Feature
"We first started using the Internet to connect students in Iowa and California two years ago," said Sarah Barfels, Kirkwood Community College instructor.
Barfels is currently teaching Intro to Sociology, Social Problems and Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Studies and has recently introduced blogging as part of her classes - a new form of student interaction.
Barfels said the hope is that it will help her students see what life is like for other community college students. People who are enrolled in Intro to Sociology will have the opportunity to blog with students from Cerritos Community College, located in Norwalk, Calif.
Blogging, a form of online interaction, is one of the new ways of communication and Barfels is a KCC pioneer. As blogging increases in popularity, the hope is that other KCC instructors will jump on the bandwagon.
"I was lucky enough to meet Professor Amy Holzgag, a Sociology Instructor at Cerritos College, in California a few years ago," said Barfels. "We decided that we wanted to work together on a project that would connect our students despite the 1,800 miles between them," she added.
"Since the Internet was also rapidly growing, we decided to take advantage of technology to create our version of online pen pals. The blog helps students who are set apart by nearly 1,800 miles communicate with each other," she said. In their discussion students learn more about other people's societal norms and also their daily lives in general.
"We wanted to do this because we thought it would be a great way for students to see how Sociology was all around them. We thought it would give all of our students a chance to see how they are similarly and differently affected by social problems," she said.
"We also thought it would allow students to see how their lives are differently shaped by their immediate social worlds," she concluded.
Barfels is currently teaching Intro to Sociology, Social Problems and Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Studies and has recently introduced blogging as part of her classes - a new form of student interaction.
Barfels said the hope is that it will help her students see what life is like for other community college students. People who are enrolled in Intro to Sociology will have the opportunity to blog with students from Cerritos Community College, located in Norwalk, Calif.
Blogging, a form of online interaction, is one of the new ways of communication and Barfels is a KCC pioneer. As blogging increases in popularity, the hope is that other KCC instructors will jump on the bandwagon.
"I was lucky enough to meet Professor Amy Holzgag, a Sociology Instructor at Cerritos College, in California a few years ago," said Barfels. "We decided that we wanted to work together on a project that would connect our students despite the 1,800 miles between them," she added.
"Since the Internet was also rapidly growing, we decided to take advantage of technology to create our version of online pen pals. The blog helps students who are set apart by nearly 1,800 miles communicate with each other," she said. In their discussion students learn more about other people's societal norms and also their daily lives in general.
"We wanted to do this because we thought it would be a great way for students to see how Sociology was all around them. We thought it would give all of our students a chance to see how they are similarly and differently affected by social problems," she said.
"We also thought it would allow students to see how their lives are differently shaped by their immediate social worlds," she concluded.
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