Promoting Creative Thinking Through UMW Blogs

In Fall 2009 I used UMW Blogs in our advanced writing course, Spanish 413, as a way for students to compile a portfolio of their work that semester, with the culmination of the course being the completion of a written project on the topic of each student’s choice.  UMW Blogs allowed students to explore their ideas, collect information, try out new media, and use all of this work throughout the semester to create an original final project.  Students worked on topics from the more traditional research-type papers on literature, art, culture, contemporary politics, and social problems of the Spanish speaking world, while others chose to use the format for more creative sorts of projects.