The Digital Classroom: New Social Media and Teaching Victorian Crime

Abstract

This article explores the implications of student blogging in undergraduate crime history module, Prison Voices: Crime, Conviction and Confession 1700-1900. Public blogging as assessment trains students to become creators as well as users of digital content, and encourages a more active engagement in research participation and knowledge exchange. But while this model of learning is highly rewarding for students, it also highlights pedagogical challenges relating to digital literacy, comparability with traditional assessment forms, and institutional support. This paper will evaluate these issues whilst promoting wider reflection on ‘blogging beyond the classroom’.