Friday, October 06, 2006 7:39 PM
Someone recently submitted a weblog to the Blawg directory that, while not legal-oriented, offers an interesting view of a university trying out weblog technology to explore campus life, through the eyes of its students.
Called "First Year Blog," Western Washington University has posted the following overview of the site and its purpose:
This fall four first year students are the authors of a blog focused on the experiences of that pivotal first year in college. These students "tried out" for the role and were selected by a committee of first year instructors. All first year students and the campus community are invited to visit the blog and comment on the authors’ postings.
The First Year Blog is sponsored by the Center for Instructional Innovation, a teaching and learning center, and the First-year Interest Groups program at Western Washington University. The goal for this project is to provide a medium for entering students to make connections with each other in hopes that this will foster a sense of community early in their college career and ultimately contribute to the success of all first-year students.
In looking over this nascent effort, I couldn"t help but think of all of those dog-eared copies of Scott Turow"s book 1L that so many incoming law school students pass around. How relevant the 1L story remains is debatable, but the fact that so many copies are sold each and every Fall lends some credence to the idea that incoming law students are very curious about what to expect.
I have not run across any law school sponsored efforts similar to First Year Blog, but it certainly seems like an interesting idea to me.