Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

I recently got some responses from the students about their computer mediated communications course, the one that required them to post in blogs and comment on their classmates’ blogs.

Some hated it because they saw it as work. I have known people who were spoiled from enjoying something they would otherwise see as a hobby just because it was required for a job or for school. These students even started mocking their teacher’s various attempts at trying to get them riled up enough to take a stand and write about it.

Others though, embrace those subjects because they don’t have to do anything different from what they have otherwise been spending time on.

The purpose of this course was supposed to be for the students to see the internet as a tool for finding people of similar interest to theirs, provided that the interest is not online in the first place, like chatting or message forums.

This required them to see a web log not as an alternative to getting responses like a mailing list by posting a short missive, or spend most of the time reading other people’s own thoughts. This way they had to initiate topics, and gather momentum to express themselves creatively and at a regular pace.

Sir Joel had wanted them to experience the thrill of finding people commenting on their writings, not only because they were their classmates and it’s required, but also because it’s open to the whole world and can be searched by anyone looking for the same subjects. Somehow that hasn’t happened though.

I also added to the original plans the idea of a student being in the shoes of their favorite columnist being forced to come up with a page of writings everyday. What would they write about? From where would they draw about which they want to write: personal day to day experiences, reactions to the news, emails and text messages they received or something else entirely? Would they emulate existing styles or come up with an entirely unique one of their own?

The point was supposed to be to come up with something they cared passionately about and express their own opinions about it, some which have been formed for years.

Maybe it’s because, not truly being immersed in a wireless, physically contact-less society, some of them still need face to face validation before they can proceed with sharing their thoughts. After all, a blog, unlike a directed text message or an email or a forum post to a group of already-known like mind thinkers, a blog is more like a shout in the dark that may or may not reach anyone else’s ears.

Are these people worried about falling in the forest and not making a sound?

For some though, being able to yell as loud as they want: in the privacy of their own car (like my cousin did the other day) or in an empty room or open space, to vent out their frustrations is enough. In fact, here having anyone nearby would draw unwanted attention to the primal screamer.

Maybe isolating their blog sites, even if it is better for the teacher’s control, isn’t the way to go about it.