Blackboard: Journals
| The journal tool offers students the opportunity to respond to course content and communicate privately with the instructor. Students can also use journals as a self-reflective tool to post their opinions, ideas, and concerns about the course, or discuss and analyze course related materials. |
Use it to create student-directed or instructor-directed journalsYou can create journal assignments that are broad and student-directed as your students reflect on the learning process and document changes in their perceptions and attitudes. Students can describe problems faced and how they solved them. Alternatively, instructor-directed journal entries are more formal in nature and can narrow the focus by listing topics for discussion. |
ProsPrivate Reflection Tool. The journal is an effective tool for gaining insights into student thinking and allowing for them to communicate privately with you. Building rapport. Journaling can build rapport between instructors and students, contributing to a positive learning experience. Individualized Feedback.You can comment on students’ journals to provide individualized feedback based on their personal responses. Individual projects over a period of time. Journals are ideal for individual projects. For example, in a creative writing course, the owner of each journal creates entries and an instructor comments. In this manner, a student can refine a section of a writing assignment over a period of time, using an instructor’s guidance and suggestions. A student can also comment on his or her entries to continue the conversation. |
