How might faculty members use blogs to help their students reach particular learning goals? I use blogs to accomplish two goals in my courses: to facilitate serious communication and cooperation between students on course–related topics and tasks, and to generate efficient and meaningful class discussions.

The difference with blogs, and it is an important difference, is that students take possession of the class blog in ways they never did with these other products.

<h3>Principle 1: The online world is a medium unto itself. </h3> <p> The search for excellence begins with this principle: The online world is a medium unto itself (Carr-Chellman &amp; Duchastel, 2000; Ellis &amp; Hafner, 2003). It is not just another learning environment, like a separate classroom down the hall; it is a categorically different learning environment. There are vastly different dynamics in online versus on campus courses.</p>

Principle 2: In the online world content is a verb.

We are moving to a mode of learning that is less dependent on information acquisition and is more centered on a set of student tasks and assignments that make up the learning experiences that students will engage in, in order to meet the objectives of the course (Carr-Chellman &amp; Duchastel, 2000). In the online world, content is a verb.

Principle 5: Sense of community and social presence are essential to online excellence.

Establishing a sense of community often signals movement to a deeper learning experience (Benfield, 2001). It is through sustained communication that participants construct meaning (Garrison, et al., 2000) and come to a more complete understanding of the content. Indeed it is through such interaction and through attending to the processes of learning and teaching (as opposed to attending only to content) that a deeper rather than a surface approach to learning is encouraged (Ramsden, 2003). Without this connection to the instructor and the other students, the course is little more than a series of exercises to be completed.

Principle 7: A great web interface will not save a poor course; but a poor web interface will destroy a potentially great course.

Principle 8: Excellence comes from ongoing assessment and refinement.

If we truly want to advance from a focus on teaching to a focus on student learning, then a strategy involving something like electronic student portfolios, or ePortfolios, is essential.