I've been asked to build on the early success of Spectacular!Spectacular! to apply for a small teaching development grant to develop a "hybrid" course, one that replaces some in-class time with a technology component.

Although I do use BlackBoard for basic uses like syllabus, assignment, and handout distribution and archiving, as well as GW's nifty e-reserves function, I'm not all that interested in using its online workshopping possibilities. Instead, I'm hoping to develop the function of the blog.

Could those of you who have used blogs in the composition and literature classroom perhaps suggest some of the ways that blogs have "invigorated" the in-class experience? Obviously, though the administrative function here is to create less demand on GW's strapped classroom spaces, there's also at least a nod to actual pedagogical benefit, and I'd like to not only reference that in the proposal, but consider it in designing said hybrid course . . .

I will, of course, also be poking around Palimpsest to see what's been said over there on the subject.