Makeba Lavan
March 21, 2016
The Freshman Blog
- An introductory descriptive paragraph, which should include a problem statement, and say *what* your tool/thing will do. This is your abstract, or elevator pitch. This should not have the full theoretical framing of the project. That will come in the final.
I have noticed that it seems difficult for students to make the transition from high school to college.
As a junior at CUNY, I started The Freshmen Blog as a way to bridge the gap. Now, as an instructor at Lehman College, many of my students have voiced similar concerns. I think that now is the time to resurrect the blog in order to address the concerns that many students have as they embark on their college career. Furthermore, the blog can cover many things that instructors may not have the time to cover, such as grammar and technical writing drills.
- A set of personas
Franny Freshman just started her first year of college. She is very unsure of her ability to manage her time and the workload. Franny has many questions, but she is shy and often does not ask for clarification in class. Although she has only been out of school for three months, Franny has forgotten many of the rules of academic writing. In addition, she remains unsure of many of the etiquette rules regarding her new status as an undergraduate. Finally, Franny finds college bureaucracy impossible to navigate, Frankly, Franny is overwhelmed.
Tina Temporary is an adjunct who teaches four classes across three CUNY campuses. She averages 120 students per semester. Tina truly lacks the time to grade papers for grammar. In addition, she knows that many of her students do not listen when she suggests they make an appointment at the tutoring center. Tina is tired of reading hundreds of horribly written papers each semester.
- A use case scenario (where would someone find your tool/thing and how would they use it). Keep it short.
I envision a website that combines a podcast and a blog. Once a week, a new blog entry with writing/professional development exercises will be posted. Later in the week, a podcast episode will be posted in which i can answer questions that students have and/or invite a guest speaker to share their experience/wisdom.
How you will make the full fledged version. This is your “ideal world” version that fulfills all of your visions and fantasies (what tools you will use, how you will get them, how confident you are that all the moving parts will work together, etc)
- Your assessment of how much time this will take, and how much of the skills you currently know and what you would have to learn.
I imagine that this problem will take at least a semester in order to be fully functional. I do not know how to build a website, so I am unsure how long acquiring that skill will take. In the meantime. I can crowd-source topics for the blog and podcast from my students and colleagues.
- How you will make the stripped down version. The stripped down version is the minimally viable product. It is the most *bare bones* version to prove that what you are trying to get at is viable. (what tools you will use, how you will get them, how confident you are that all the moving parts will work together, etc)
The stripped down version could simply be a wordpress blog where students leave questions and I post verbal and visual blog entries..
- Your assessment of how much time this will take, and how much of the skills you currently know and what you would have to learn.
As wordpress is an established platform, I think the blog could be up in a couple of weeks. The real challenge will be gathering a following amongst college students. Having thought on this, I would post a couple of months’ worth of content and then reach out to CUNY colleagues (initially) so that they can tell their classes about the resource.
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