Keeping a Journal

I have decided to go with journals for my two upper-level courses. In my own research and reading, I have found that the sooner I start to write ideas and information down, the more I retain what I'm reading, and the more that the reading has an impact on future thought and work. My students will be required to write in their journals on a weekly basis. So as not to leave them entirely without guidance, I'll begin each weekly session with a series of (what I hope will be) thoughtful questions. This way I can guide both the readings and the responses. This is yet another experiment using Blackboard technology. I won't go back to the discussion boards -- they are antiquated and unwieldy. Eventually I'll have made my path through all of Blackboard's options, and then I can decide truly if is something that I would stick with in the long term. I'm fascinated with the prospect of using something a bit more aesthetically pleasing, like Google Groups, but I don't want to make students sign up for anything extra. Since they are already bound to Blackboard by University fiat, I'll use that.