Reflections On Blogging

When we began the EDES 545 course, one of the things that we were asked to do was to find 5 useful blogs and subscribe to them. I had always used my web browser (Safari) to aggregate feeds, but had never thought about alternatives. I. t was interesting to check out Google Reader and Bloglines as Web based readers. If I was a voracious reader, I might also consider an actual application (Net News Reader looks good). However, I still find that a browser based RSS aggregator fits the bill for me. Internet Explorer 7, Safari and Opera have RSS aggregators built in.

Some blogs that I have enjoyed, when I actually found time to read them, are:

The Shifted Librarian - Very entertaining tumblelog, challenging my conceptions of the way an educator ought to think

Weblogg-ed - Will Richardson's Blog, always thought provoking, well commented

Teachers Teaching Teachers - Not exactly a blog (weekly audio podcasts with summaries and comments), but interesting discussion on pertinent topics

Borderland - Doug Noon's blog, a little subversive and very funny

Steve Hargadon's Blog - Very solid content and some great links

Some strong blogs written by students include:

The Blurb - Some of Bill Ferriter's students

Students 2.0 - A blog written by students from all over the world, almost too good to be true

As Jordyn Flows - Somewhat personal, but well done

The process of blogging is something that teachers ought to experience. Darren Draper has given 4 reasons that kind of resonate with me:

Reason #1: Writing is thinking.
Reason #2: It can be easier to write that which is difficult to say.
Reason #3: Blogging allows you to communicate with other teachers which, in turn, allows you to learn from each other.
Reason #4: They say you can't teach a dog new tricks - but since we expect new tricks out of our students every day, we'd might as well learn a few ourselves.

The Weblogg-Ed Site http://weblogg-ed.com/why-weblogs/ has a great article encouraging educators to use blogs themselves and with students. The following quote is included:

Most students, as with many people, are passive participants on the Internet. They read, but they don’t write for the Web. Now, composing html pages and posting them to the web is technically difficult for the classroom when compared to signing up for a blog and posting text. It’s certainly not quite the same experience as making choices over page design, etc., but blog posting can make them active participants by having them join in existing conversations. And in many ways it’s more dynamic than creating html pages, since it’s much easier to continually add fresh content.

The most enjoyable blog reading has been from checking out the findings of the EDES 545 students. There is something powerful about a dozen of us pursuing a common topic related to teaching, then posting it in a great flurry as Sunday night approaches (too quickly, rats!), reading it all and thinking, "Whoa, very cool - make a note of that."

A final link - At some point, one of my classmates linked to a great page (seemingly from a San Diego State University course) which shows a blogging map. It is an interesting diagram breaking down several blog categories with links to examples. Using it helped me to get a feel for a bit of what's out there in the blogosphere.

posted by John Lobe @ 11:09 PM