The Blog component of our management class was valuable, and an interesting way to reflect. However, I do feel that it created some unnecessary extra work at times, and it's much harder to remember to do it when you don't have to actually "turn it in" on it's due date. (I guess that helps with time management skills? :-)
1. I didn't like that we were required to comment on classmates' blogs. I think it should have been encouraged, or maybe required to comment on just one other person's blog... not three or five. I think that because the comments were required to earn points, the conversation was sort of redundant and elementary at times. It got a little boring reading "I agree with him/her..." Maybe it would have helped to give more guidelines for the comments, as you did for the actual entries.
2. The blog was absolutely effective in getting me to think about class activities and share my perceptions. It was actually more valuable than the class discussions after the activities in this sense. The questions you asked for the assignments were truly thought provoking and helped make the concepts stick, because I had to reconnect with the concepts in terms of my own experience.
3. Sure... However (and please don't take this personally), I prefer Harvard Business Review for supplementary management reading.
4. Honestly, I prefer tests. The blog did not offset my anxieties. I have little time outside of work and attending class to do this kind of writing. So the idea of having more busy work was actually more stressful for me. For something that was worth that much of my grade I would have preferred to analyze case studies and get a little more in depth with the concepts. (I'm probably the only student who would suggest this... It's not likely to be a popular idea amongst my peers)
5. I may start a new blog to post my ideas. I don't think I'll continue with this one. I do think that having a blog that reflects your ideas about your industry and environment could be a great self marketing tool in the business world. I would like to predict that people's blog url's will be listed under their email addresses on their resumes soon enough. Anything that will create an edge in the job market in today's economy is a plus. Also, if your potential future employer is going to "Google" you anyway, you might as well give them something interesting to read.
As a final note, I think you should keep the Blog concept for the class, but instead of commenting on other classmates' entries, you should set up a discussion forum with specific questions about the students' experiences with class activities. I think with the discussion taking place in one centralized location, it could have become much more interesting/lively.
