Field Study Ideas

Well, it's almost time to create an outline for a field study for the fall.   I thought I knew what I wanted to do, but I'm tossing around ideas again.

  I'm wondering about making my assessment more informative and useful to myself for planning and for the students to guide their learning, and if that's where I want to focus.  I am going to be using the new Smartboard, and as a result, I will show demonstration videos and interactive concepts for math and more, which I'm sure will engage the students more than just my talking to them.  What I want is to look at something I can use, not be overloaded, and that I can measure and track.   I'm pretty sure that students are going to be more engaged with the Smart board, so I can't prove that using it more is better than just me, as I can't compare as this year's class have never had a board before, or me, so there's no baseline data.  

That being said, if I want to ensure that my kids know math vocabulary and can solve a problem in more than one way, the reality is that it's hard to get to everyone each class, and I don't have the time to have them demonstrate and explain their thinking and reasoning to me.   Would having them show their ideas on a blog (that I can read, assess, edit, give feedback on, etc.) be plausible?  Can I use technology as a tool to make the assessment manageable and to have it guide my teaching ideas?  Will it allow me to look at student's thinking from their point of view?   Will it help me to look at everyone's ideas, not just those who hand in their work on time?   Can I ask questions either online or face to face to get a better understanding of thinking (deeper probes, or to see where misunderstanding lies,) that will be better for all of us.  

I think I'd like them to put their own definitions for current math vocabulary on their blog, in their own words, as we work through units, and show their understanding somehow, (draw pictures, use in a sentence, solve a problem, etc.) This will allow me to access their work almost anywhere and when it fits my schedule, and I can use classtime for informed discussions based on what I learn, not the conferencing with only 1 or 2 students that's not productive at times.   Will it work?