Throughout the semester, students in UNIV 290 blog about their community-based experiences using WordPress or their personal favorite blogging platform.  The weekly blog entry is an opportunity for students to:

• report on their weekly experiences working as volunteers in the community;
• make connections between in-class conversations and on-site experiences;
• educate one another about issues that are important to them and to the non-profits where they are serving.

As public documents, other members of the Loyola community (and the broader community!) can follow students' volunteer experiences.  More than one UNIV 290 student has been surprised to receive comments on his/her blog from professional staff at the organization where he or she has been serving; one student even received commendation on his blog from the founder of the national nonprofit, who was reading about his experiences from Washington, D.C.!

The blog assignment is also a great avenue for self-expression, self-exploration, and creativity.  Students enrich their blog posts with video, images, music, etc.  Each week, members of the class are responsible for reading one another's blogs, and take turns choosing ONE entry as the "blog of the week."  The week's winner receives a $5 electronic gift card to Amazon.com, and leads off the following week's class discussion with a dramatic reading of his or her post.  At the end of the semester, students integrate their blog into their final electronic portfolio...but many of these blogs also gain a life of their own, as students continue them or as Loyola's Center for Experiential Learning uses them to teach other students about volunteerism and service with Chicago-area nonprofits.