Blogging -- The Million Dollar Question

By George I think I've got it!

Wow! I really didn't know what blogging was until I started playing around with it in Blackboard.

I also started playing attention to the blogging that goes on all over the Internet.

I watch CNN a lot and Anderson Cooper blogs during the breaks.

I am going to be a bloggin' fool in my next online class.

I am very excited about it and I think it is a way to keep the students engaged a little at a time......

Weekly Blog

Please click on the link, read the article and blog a response.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/15/storm.atlanta/index.html

MCCD Official Course Competencies: Introduction to Sociology

We will cover the Maricopa County Community College Official Course Competencies as described below. This information was taken from the MCCCD website-www.maricopa.edu.

1.	Define sociology and explain how it differs from other social sciences. (I)
2.	Explain the sociological imagination and how it operates in everyday life. (I)
3.	Describe the basic theoretical perspectives sociologists use to analyze social phenomena. (II)
4.	Name and briefly describe the importance of selected major theorists to the field of sociology. (II)
5.	List and explain the stages in a basic research design. (III)
6.	Describe and differentiate between qualitative and quantitative research methods. (III)
7.	Define the basic sociological concepts: culture, society, socialization, social structure, groups, and institutions. (IV)
8.	Describe values and norms, including mores, folkways, and laws. (IV)
9.	Describe societal and structural factors that can influence individual behavior. (V)
10.	Describe sociological/psychological theories as they relate to the development of the self.(V)
11.	Describe the influence of selected institutions on society and the individual. (VI)
12.	Describe the effect of race/ethnicity, sex/gender, and age on social inequality. (VII)
13.	Explain major sociological perspectives on social class. (VII)
14.	Explain how conflict, functionalist, and symbolic interactionist theoretical perspectives view deviance and conformity. (VIII)
15.	Describe and explain social change, including the influence of collective behavior, social movements, and demographic factors. (IX)

Technology

Technology for some students has been a challenge. I find that some students have never taken an online class, so the "art" of posting is a challenge in itself.

A couple of projects that they will need to complete throughout the semester will use PowerPoint and Excel.

I had them prepare a PowerPoint Presentation that was to be about themselves and their culture. They had free reign on this. They had to submit 5 - 10 slides. To alleviate any issues I posted the following link to help give them some basic PowerPoint tips: http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/edpy202/tutorial/PowerPoint/pptBasics/pptBasics.htm

They will have another project to submit using Excel, where they will log data that will be used to write an analysis paper. I found this link to help them with some basic excel pointers:
http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/edpy202/tutorial/spreadsheet/ExcelBasics/ExcelBasics.htm

Textbook

SOC 101 Course Objectives

Course Objectives:

1. To develop a sociological perspective on social behavior that is based on the scientific method rather than common sense.
2. To identify fundamental patterns of conflict that is present in our society as well as social order and integration.
3. To understand some of the underlying causes of what we call social problems and to see how
sociological data enter into policy decisions.
4. To become a more informed consumer of social science data.
5. To gain insight into the social behavior of other people in other cultures and adopt a position of
cultural relativism.
6. To understand the process of socialization and how we become social beings.
7. To become aware of the different ways in which people act, feel, think, and define their situations based on their “sex, class, age, ethnic group, geographic region and nationality.”
8. To become aware of the impact of social institutions.
9. To improve writing skills in terms of content and ideas: structure (sentence and paragraphical development) and mechanics through assignments and sociological exercises.