Monday, October 14, 2013

Blog Evaluation Categories 2013 Fall


1. Language
Use of Japanese:
-transition into using more Japanese, use Japanese as much as possible
Grammar and Vocabulary:
- clear language, grammatically correct sentences, and proper spelling
- use the grammar structures and vocabulary we learned (If necessary, attempt to challenge and go beyond your language skills)
- demonstrate improvement from the previous posts

2. Content
Topic/Theme: 
- various topics that lead to good discussion and/or relate to Japanese language and/or culture.
- have continuity
- select topics that students in both countries (Japan and America) will understand
Body:
- clear, easy to understand, coherent
- have a clear point (do not write like diaries)
- entertaining, creative, original, informative, interesting, and/or relevant to reader and writer

3. Layout
Aesthetics
- easy on the eye, visually attractive (e.g. stylish layout, effective usage of colors, uniqueness)
- utilize external resources (multimedia such as pictures, videos, links, and/or recordings)
- clear font
Organization
- user- friendly, easy to navigate, organized
- visually attractive (e.g. stylish layout, effective usage of colors, uniqueness)

4. Communication
Reply
- respond to comments (e.g. commenting on classmates’ blogs and other blogs outside of class)
- comments should be meaningful and thoughtful (e.g. constructive criticism and compliments)
- foster active discussions
- attempt to connect with readers
- interact with other blogs
Facilitate Understanding
- English translation when relevant
- attempt to be clear in your writing

5. Consideration
Politeness
- no offensive words or posts but have an opinion
- be kind, sincere, respectful and thoughtful (should respect others’ blogs, consider other’s opinions, try not to be politically incorrect)
Language Level
- aware of the language level of the readers, try to post at the class’ level so we can all read the posts

6. Frequency
- update regularly, avoid posting too much entries at once that has no content
- post more often than what is required

7. Others
- have fun and see the blog project as less of an assignment, but more of an opportunity to improve language skills
- try to browse other schools' blogs as much as possible so that you can learn from them.


6 comments:

  1. For the frequency category, instead of "post more often than what is required" why dont we simply specify how much we should post? If the current amounts are too little to merit a good grade, they should simply be adjusted. Scoring should be based on quality, not raw quantity. - Jack, Christie, Insung

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  2. Overall, we agree with the blog evaluation categories. However, we think that it's important to keep the following in mind: if its fun for you to read, its fun for us to read! Don't treat this blog project just as 'homework'; you are allowed to have some fun with this!

    One comment on the frequency of posting - we believe that you shouldn't be punished for simply posting on the allocated 'lab' dates. You should be rewarded for quality of content, not necessarily quantity of blog posts. As long as you are engaged with the material, and with the comments left on your blog posts, we believe that this demonstrates good use of the project.

    - Sewa, Serena, & Ricardo

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  3. We agree with the previous two comments regarding the frequency of posting. We should be clearly informed how often we should be posting, and whether or not we need to be posting outside of the lab sessions or instructed times. Posting more often would not pose a problem, but it would be extremely helpful to know when we should be posting or how often we should be posting!

    - Georgette, Hannah, Brianna

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  4. We agree with most of the guidelines, but we think that it's a little difficult for our blogs to "have continuity." Also, since we want to vary our content, it seems almost impossible to avoid diary-style entries. Could we make the category of content more accommodating to slightly more random posts?

    -- Anna, Adam, and Bill

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  5. We agree with the previous comments. The ambiguity of "frequency" conflicts with how the blogs are evaluated. We think there should be a a specific amount or dates per week that we are instructed to post.

    We also feel that we shouldn't be limited to only Japanese Culture. As long as we relate to it or that we are utilizing the Japanese we learn, should be sufficient.



    ---Jamie, Melissa, Tosin, Mina

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  6. We agree for the most part with these criterion but not with the frequency section. We don't understand why we can't post a lot of entries at once if we have free time to do so. We also don't feel that it is fair to arbitrarily require "more often than what is required". If we should have more posts than blog classes, a number/timeline/specific instructions should be given. Furthermore, we shouldn't be required to select topics that students in both countries (Japan and America) will understand because we are a diverse class and should be able to bring in our own respective cultures and topics if so desired.

    -- Emily, Florence, Ben, Jose

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