the Backstory:

The BisonBlog is a creation of mine (Sybil Priebe), and the thought of it was born around the spring of 2002 when I took a class called Electronic Communication from Dr. Kevin Brooks. It went something like this:

"Gee, I wish there was a way for students to meet other students easier."

I had been thinking of this simply because I knew that many NDSU students lived off campus. I knew that a lot of students had weird schedules that didn't permit them to meet others through clubs or meetings or events. I knew that a lot of students worked part or full time. How could more students meet each other? And, why would this help them and NDSU? Well, it seems simple.. the more people you meet in college = the more likely your experience of college life will be an awesome one. This would aid NDSU in getting more students attracted to come here, and it would make more of the graduates say: "Yea, I had a great college experience" rather than "It was okay, I didn't meet that many people."

In conjunction with those thoughts, Kevin and I both "discovered" weblogs that semester, and immediately, I was hooked. It turned out that I had been weblogging all along in a paper format. I use time stamps in my paper journals, and I use my paper journals for more than ranting about life. I collect tidbits and quotes on my weblog as well as use it to record my daily meanderings.

So, my research links my love of weblogs with wanting to help out other students like me and my siblings that live off campus and have weird schedules.

To become part of the BisonBlog, my research study (through a simple e-mailed survey), and possibly be interviewed about weblogging- contact me at: Sybil.Priebe@ndsu.nodak.edu

the Purposes behind the BisonBlog:

-Students can explore NDSU's campus through an online path. Students of similar tastes may start reading each others weblogs (because they will be listed on the BisonBlog) and become study partners or friends or both. People who normally wouldn't have met physically on campus (due to schedules or living locations: on campus vs. off) can through this collaborative campus weblog.

-Students will reach new audiences with their weblogs. Not only will they have the online communities of Blogger or Xanga or Diaryland reading their entries, NDSU students will become part of their audience as well.

the Focus of my Thesis Research Study:

-I want to explore the capabilities of weblogging in the educational setting. Is weblogging useful for developing writing skills AS WELL AS building stronger online communities? Particularly education-based communities?

-I want to see what it takes to create a successfull online campus community. Will I succeed? What will it mean to succeed?

08/02/03 - 8:21am

Well, here she blows. A project in the making. A weblog of unusual porportions. Will it succeed? Will it get me somewhere with my thesis? Will it create an online campus community? All great questions, I suppose. I need to be patient. Afterall, I am just an amateur blogger, an amateur graduate student with holes in her writing, and an novice teacher. And, heck, I just started this template today. So many things to add yet. Patience is not only a virtue, but it should be a pill as well. Some pharmacy student should get on that.