First, is this technically possible given the structure of the blogs@psu implementation of Movable Type? It would require, in effect, making all PSU users who have activated their personal space co-authors.
Second, what are the advantages and dangers of such a model?
Let me think out loud here about this for a moment:
The advantage is that we embrace a way of being open that has the possibility of making the REI blog a genuine site for the organic growth of a community concerned with pressing ethical questions that arise in students' lives. If we can lay out a set of guidelines, practices and conventions about posting to the site, it would give students a way to "Speak Up" about ethical issues they confront everyday. This is potentially a very powerful model and possibility.
The danger is that the space will become too contentious and overwhelmed by students who are unable to distance themselves from their deeply felt convictions to engage in reflective and conscientious ways. My initial response to this is that our role as educators is to help students learn how to engage in thoughtful dialogue about precisely such issues of contention.
Everyone I talk to about opening university controlled digital spaces to student generated content, students included, express skepticism about the students' ability to engage with one another in a mature and thoughtful way. My intuition, and it is based on my experience with students in the classroom, is that when administrators, staff and faculty are part of the community these digital spaces open, students respond in thoughtful and often quite remarkable ways.
What do others think of this model?
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