Noteblogging: Taking Note Taking Public

Classroom note taking tends to be a private activity, hiding a wealth of knowledge in both content and method. With the advent of the web, whose technology and culture seemingly invites everyone to share everything, we are prompted to ask how making note taking a public activity - noteblogging - might advance learning. What does a blog about a computer science classroom look like? What supports are needed to enable noteblogging as a form of auxiliary instruction? In this paper we overview the design and use of noteblogging as part of the Ubiquitous Presenter digital classroom system. With NoteBlogger, students with Tablet PCs take handwritten notes digitally on top of the instructor's slides, and their notes are instantly reviewable by other students in class using a web browser. We examine the impact of noteblogging on a CS1 course through interviews with bloggers (to reveal their motivation and understand their choice of content) and blog watchers (to learn when and why they watch). We also analyze the blogs in this CS1 course to identify their educational contribution. We find that noteblogging enables a unique classroom participation model that specifically engages more advanced students. Blog content spans many levels of intellectual engagement, which can support a range of learners in CS1 as well as perhaps model for them various levels of reflection.