Students, Please Read My Comments Carefully

I've always been suspect of the effectiveness of those scribbly comments I spend hours writing on students papers. In an effort to make the most of this feedback exchange, I've tried all sorts of things, like commenting on rough drafts, making comments and filling out a rubric but not writing a grade, having students respond in writing to comments when I give the paper back, electronic comments on Word, voice comments, individual conferences, etc. Today, Will Richardson's post grabbed my attention, discussing the issue of commenting on papers and blogs, and what some new technology is going to allow us to do. Essentially, comments will be able to be placed within a blog post, and the blog becomes a digital writing workshop.