My blogroll is on steroids.

This week my blogroll will swell to five times its original size, with the addition of almost 100 new blogs featuring the writings of this year's Creative Communications students.

The faculty of the Creative Communications program at Red River College met last spring, after the students had gone off for the summer, to incorporate more new media into our curriculum. One of the fruits of that planning session was the blog assignment, in which every first-year student must create a professional blog and maintain it throughout their time here in the program. [For more on what the assignment entails, please see my colleague Kenton Larsen's blog.] I've also added the assignment to the PR major program, and believe the Advertising majors will be blogging this year, as well.

Our objective is, at its most fundamental, three-fold: first, to give students a first-hand understanding of how new media work; secondly, to teach them how to write for and attract an online audience; and thirdly, to help them create a positive online "brand" and body of work for consideration by prospective employers.

"CreCommers" are renowned for their energy and creativity; I've no doubt there'll be some great reading on our student blogs. Check them out!