Comments throughout the blog are now open to guests. An email address is required, but not prior approval.
This is an experiment to see if readers want a discussion space. Readers can also be participants. The blog is mainly intended for students attending the course but we have a wider readership, who have offered helpful links and constructive criticism.
It is intended as a small test case to help us see where the boundary between course membership and guest participation should be drawn. Do students want a public forum, or do they want a more private space? Do we all gain from a conversation which includes visitor comments, or is it too difficult to keep contributions relevant?
More fundamentally, are comment threads and forums solutions looking for a problem to solve? We need to think about defining the problem to which this is the solution.
To add your comments about comments, head over to the Comments Welcome page.
Participating users need to add the Comments(RSS) feed to their feedreader. In this template it is at the bottom of every page.