Inflammablog: peer-to-peer online learning in immunology

Is it possible for students in different courses, at different academic levels, and at different universities to learn immunology together using the Internet? We teach a colloquium on inflammation for undergraduates at the University of Arizona and a lecture course on human immunology for graduate students and clinical and basic science fellows at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Students in these programs, being scattered about large campuses, have little time for student-directed discussion and peer interactions, and they never have the opportunity to meet students in the course in the other state. Instead of requiring the usual essays and term papers, we set up a blog (an online discussion group) for the two courses, and required all students to post, and comment on other posts, within and between the courses. Student writing is normally directed at a single reader, the instructor, which seems like a waste of talent; we encouraged peer exchanges. Furthermore, we were interested in observing the interactions between the Colorado students, who were older and sometimes experienced professionals, and the younger Arizonans. We used a blog because it is administratively impossible to enroll the students in two universities in a single courseware (learning management system) site. Blogging has offered insights into students' comfort with this form of social medium, and into the potential for this approach in light of the rapid adoption of blended and massively open online courses.