Opinions

For our class, we were asked to give answers to these prompts:
Comments on three (3) of your colleagues' websites of your choices. What are their best features, what interests you the most, and anything you think they are worthwhile visiting and mentioning. (Make links to their websites if possible in your blog content.)
Your critique of the NYU BlackBoard system. What's its pros and cons? Would you want to use this in your class (either as teacher or student)? (if yes, the same way or different)
I enjoyed looking at three of my classmates websites: Fay, Alison and Teslen. Each website was incredibly different and I really appreciated that. I liked Fay's blog and her opinions, but moreso that she used her website more as a self promotion. That was really interesting. Alison featured a lot of interesting links and pictures relating to dance, something I think people in drama should be more familiar with. Finally, I really liked Teslens site, as she used tables in the creation of her website. That was very interesting.
http://homepages.nyu.edu/~jcs474/projectcreate.html (Teslen)
http://homepages.nyu.edu/~alr356/literacy.html (Alison)
http://homepages.nyu.edu/~jfg296/ (Fay)
As for Blackboard, I like that it is there as a syllabus, so you can constantly reference whatever is due or is the next homework assignment. It also makes communication easier, as you can have discussion boards through your class. For those who do not like to speak up in class, this is a great way to encourage class participation. However, there are students that like to have less of the blackboard system in their classroom and more of the paper aspect. As a teacher and a learner, I am more of a fan of the paper portfolio and notebook, and less of the final outcome being on the internet. However, I am really a fan of having all of the resources available for the class on BlackBoard. Because of that, BlackBoard is a positive and a negative in the classroom, but not one that I would require my students to use, and if I did, I would not require that homework be turned in through blackboard or make mandatory discussions.