Blogosphere - the final frontier? Well, maybe not the final frontier, but definitely a frontier worthy of exploration and with much to discover.
Reflections about the Process of Blogging
When we began this course and learned that our primary assignment would be blogging, I didn't know what to think. First I had choose a platform. I had worked with a consultant on a project, and we used Blogger. She had done the work of actually setting up the blog, so I really didn't know how it worked, but I chose it because I had some familiarity with it.
Blogger is easy to use. The technology of creating a blog is not difficult, at least not on Blogger. Blogger provides a platform for people who do not have a lot of technological or program writing skills, but who want to have an online presence. Blogger is also compatible with most widgets or gadgets that people might want to embed on their page. For beginners, Blogger is easy to use. But the beauty of Blogger is also its downfall for those more adventurous. There appears to be a debate online about which blogging platform is superior. The Royal Pingdom surveyed the top 100 blogs to determine which platforms are most used in the most popular blogs, and it turns out that Wordpress is the platform most common according to the article The blog platforms of choice among the top 100 blogs. At the time I began my blog, I was just looking for something easy to use. I was afraid and not looking to be adventurous. I played it safe, and I'm good with that. Blogger has met all of my needs, and it has been very user friendly.
Not only were we to write a blog, but we were also to read other people's blogs. We were given a number of names to follow, but we were also asked to follow others we found ourselves. Imagine the process of logging in to 12, 15 or 20 different blogs! I know I'm not supposed to have a life while I'm taking classes, but the amount of time this could consume might prevent me from some things that are required to live - like eating and sleeping! Well, somebody was taking to heart the whole "work smarter not harder" philosophy when she created RSS (Really Simple Syndication).
I, apparently, had actually been living in outer space prior to the start of this course as I had no understanding or knowledge of what an RSS feed was. Lucky for me, YouTube - my favourite "go to" site was at the ready!
Essentially, I now understand that there are tools to help me organize my information. I went with Google Reader. You can see a screen shot of my Google Reader page below. I don't have some extraordinary reason for this. To my knowledge it's not better or worse than another tool, but somebody I know suggested it, and like many things Google does, it's user friendly (read idiot proof).
Google Reader collects all the updates on the blogs I follow in one spot. I can scroll down my list and see all of the most recent new posts from the various blogs and choose whether or not I want to read them. When I began this class, I followed about 12 blogs, but now I follow 38. Not every post is about something I want to read about, and using a reader allows me to quickly bypass anything that is not of interest to me. It also saves me a lot of time as it is bringing news and updates to me!
Blogs and Personal Learning
Although the format for my blog has been dictated by my purpose (and thus my esteemed instructor's dictates), there are certain commonalities in blogs. For examples, blogs should be include links to places where readers will find further information on the topic of interest. Blogs should also be a synthesis and analysis of information on a particular topic. Although it was the first point (linking to others) that perplexed me when I began this blog, it is the second point (synthesis and analysis of information) that is actually the most difficult.
In order to actually synthesize and analyze information, I really have to use critical thinking skills. Honestly, I think dusting the cobwebs from that part of my brain proved the most difficult! First, there is no shortage of information, but I had to find good information by a variety of knowledgeable people and then remix it and try to say something new, or if not new, at least valuable. Knowing what I went through doing this excites me about using blogs with students, but that's later!
In his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson quotes Middlebury College professor Barbara Ganley as saying, "How can a teacher expect her students to blog (or to use any other tool, strategy, or technique) if she doesn't use it herself, exploring the impact it has on her thinking, writing, research and creativity?" (2009, pp. 43) Well that quote really made me think. Yes, it's all well and good to take these tools into the classroom, but how do I really know what they can do and how to use them if I'm not using them myself? I've wondered as I've been writing my posts for this class if I would keep up the blogging, but I've been pretty sure I wouldn't because I didn't think I would have anything to write about. Lately, however, I've been thinking that this would be a very good way for me to learn about new tools and process the information from exciting discussions from my personal learning network.
One thing I've really enjoyed about reading the blogs of the people I follow is being so up-to-date on new ideas and news in the profession. It's exciting and it's interesting. Oh, believe me, it's time consuming, but taking a note from the page of a friend, I've taken to reading my blogs as I might the Saturday morning paper. I just set aside a block of time (usually Sunday morning), and I catch up then.
There are blogs about every possible topic imagineable. The blogs I chose to follow over and above those that were suggested by my professor were either specifically related to my role as a teacher-librarian or they were useful to me in that role even though I may not have chosen them for that express purpose. For example, I follow a number of different blogs that review books. Some of these are Young Adult and some are more adult, but these are enjoyable to me personally as well as professionally.
I am a life-long learner. I hope every teacher is. I have been teaching for about 14 years now, but I always feel like I am a new teacher. I never feel like I'm "there," like I've landed, you know? I am always on a journey, and I really like that. I think the day I think I've got it all figured out, is the day I'd better retire! I like going to conferences, but I am only allowed to go to one per year because of our school's professional development policy. Not long ago, going to a conference was probably the most popular form of professional development for teachers. It may still be for some. It's not for me though. I am paraticipating in the K-12 Online Conference and I joined its Ning. It's not going to cost me anything. I get Tweets from the people I follow to links about (and this is just in the last 10 minutes) Six Easy Ways for Students to Create Videos Online, Formative and Summative Assessment in the Classroom, and Essential Tools for the Connected Teacher. I can follow the blogs of people who are experts in the field like Joyce Valenza, Doug Johnson, Steve Anderson, David Warlick, Buffy Hamilton and more. I can learn something valuable every day, every hour of every day, possibly even every minute!
Blogs as professional development tools are great because I can decide what I want to learn about and find the appropriate blogs. This gives me the freedom to pursue my interests, passions and needs. And, I can do this asynchronous (that's a new word for me from this class). That means, I can do it at a time that is convenient to me and not someone else. This puts the control of professional development in my hands. I can't tell you how often I have been at a professional development event only to hear people complain about what they didn't get from it. I've always believed if you come away with one new idea or understanding, it was time well spent. This does not appear to be everyone's perspective. I'm not saying blogging and reading blogs and develop one's own personal learning network should replace face-to-face conferences, but I am suggesting that by increasing one's own responsibility for professional development through blogging, it would allow people to find the information they are most interested in, and by communicating with others with similar interests, it might broaden horizons and open them up for new ideas.
Reflections about the Process of Blogging
When we began this course and learned that our primary assignment would be blogging, I didn't know what to think. First I had choose a platform. I had worked with a consultant on a project, and we used Blogger. She had done the work of actually setting up the blog, so I really didn't know how it worked, but I chose it because I had some familiarity with it.
Blogger is easy to use. The technology of creating a blog is not difficult, at least not on Blogger. Blogger provides a platform for people who do not have a lot of technological or program writing skills, but who want to have an online presence. Blogger is also compatible with most widgets or gadgets that people might want to embed on their page. For beginners, Blogger is easy to use. But the beauty of Blogger is also its downfall for those more adventurous. There appears to be a debate online about which blogging platform is superior. The Royal Pingdom surveyed the top 100 blogs to determine which platforms are most used in the most popular blogs, and it turns out that Wordpress is the platform most common according to the article The blog platforms of choice among the top 100 blogs. At the time I began my blog, I was just looking for something easy to use. I was afraid and not looking to be adventurous. I played it safe, and I'm good with that. Blogger has met all of my needs, and it has been very user friendly.
Not only were we to write a blog, but we were also to read other people's blogs. We were given a number of names to follow, but we were also asked to follow others we found ourselves. Imagine the process of logging in to 12, 15 or 20 different blogs! I know I'm not supposed to have a life while I'm taking classes, but the amount of time this could consume might prevent me from some things that are required to live - like eating and sleeping! Well, somebody was taking to heart the whole "work smarter not harder" philosophy when she created RSS (Really Simple Syndication).
I, apparently, had actually been living in outer space prior to the start of this course as I had no understanding or knowledge of what an RSS feed was. Lucky for me, YouTube - my favourite "go to" site was at the ready!
Essentially, I now understand that there are tools to help me organize my information. I went with Google Reader. You can see a screen shot of my Google Reader page below. I don't have some extraordinary reason for this. To my knowledge it's not better or worse than another tool, but somebody I know suggested it, and like many things Google does, it's user friendly (read idiot proof).
Google Reader collects all the updates on the blogs I follow in one spot. I can scroll down my list and see all of the most recent new posts from the various blogs and choose whether or not I want to read them. When I began this class, I followed about 12 blogs, but now I follow 38. Not every post is about something I want to read about, and using a reader allows me to quickly bypass anything that is not of interest to me. It also saves me a lot of time as it is bringing news and updates to me!
Blogs and Personal Learning
Although the format for my blog has been dictated by my purpose (and thus my esteemed instructor's dictates), there are certain commonalities in blogs. For examples, blogs should be include links to places where readers will find further information on the topic of interest. Blogs should also be a synthesis and analysis of information on a particular topic. Although it was the first point (linking to others) that perplexed me when I began this blog, it is the second point (synthesis and analysis of information) that is actually the most difficult.
In order to actually synthesize and analyze information, I really have to use critical thinking skills. Honestly, I think dusting the cobwebs from that part of my brain proved the most difficult! First, there is no shortage of information, but I had to find good information by a variety of knowledgeable people and then remix it and try to say something new, or if not new, at least valuable. Knowing what I went through doing this excites me about using blogs with students, but that's later!
In his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson quotes Middlebury College professor Barbara Ganley as saying, "How can a teacher expect her students to blog (or to use any other tool, strategy, or technique) if she doesn't use it herself, exploring the impact it has on her thinking, writing, research and creativity?" (2009, pp. 43) Well that quote really made me think. Yes, it's all well and good to take these tools into the classroom, but how do I really know what they can do and how to use them if I'm not using them myself? I've wondered as I've been writing my posts for this class if I would keep up the blogging, but I've been pretty sure I wouldn't because I didn't think I would have anything to write about. Lately, however, I've been thinking that this would be a very good way for me to learn about new tools and process the information from exciting discussions from my personal learning network.
One thing I've really enjoyed about reading the blogs of the people I follow is being so up-to-date on new ideas and news in the profession. It's exciting and it's interesting. Oh, believe me, it's time consuming, but taking a note from the page of a friend, I've taken to reading my blogs as I might the Saturday morning paper. I just set aside a block of time (usually Sunday morning), and I catch up then.
There are blogs about every possible topic imagineable. The blogs I chose to follow over and above those that were suggested by my professor were either specifically related to my role as a teacher-librarian or they were useful to me in that role even though I may not have chosen them for that express purpose. For example, I follow a number of different blogs that review books. Some of these are Young Adult and some are more adult, but these are enjoyable to me personally as well as professionally.
I am a life-long learner. I hope every teacher is. I have been teaching for about 14 years now, but I always feel like I am a new teacher. I never feel like I'm "there," like I've landed, you know? I am always on a journey, and I really like that. I think the day I think I've got it all figured out, is the day I'd better retire! I like going to conferences, but I am only allowed to go to one per year because of our school's professional development policy. Not long ago, going to a conference was probably the most popular form of professional development for teachers. It may still be for some. It's not for me though. I am paraticipating in the K-12 Online Conference and I joined its Ning. It's not going to cost me anything. I get Tweets from the people I follow to links about (and this is just in the last 10 minutes) Six Easy Ways for Students to Create Videos Online, Formative and Summative Assessment in the Classroom, and Essential Tools for the Connected Teacher. I can follow the blogs of people who are experts in the field like Joyce Valenza, Doug Johnson, Steve Anderson, David Warlick, Buffy Hamilton and more. I can learn something valuable every day, every hour of every day, possibly even every minute!
Blogs as professional development tools are great because I can decide what I want to learn about and find the appropriate blogs. This gives me the freedom to pursue my interests, passions and needs. And, I can do this asynchronous (that's a new word for me from this class). That means, I can do it at a time that is convenient to me and not someone else. This puts the control of professional development in my hands. I can't tell you how often I have been at a professional development event only to hear people complain about what they didn't get from it. I've always believed if you come away with one new idea or understanding, it was time well spent. This does not appear to be everyone's perspective. I'm not saying blogging and reading blogs and develop one's own personal learning network should replace face-to-face conferences, but I am suggesting that by increasing one's own responsibility for professional development through blogging, it would allow people to find the information they are most interested in, and by communicating with others with similar interests, it might broaden horizons and open them up for new ideas.
In a post by Will Richardson entitled Blogs for Professional Development, he talks about the work of Karl Fisch from Centennial, Co and his staff in using blogs to meet their goals which were to “improve teacher and student use of technology, to achieve curricular goals, to help transform our school to a more student-centered,constructivist approach, and to prepare our students to succeed in the21st century.” With the help of some grants, this staff was able to engage in discussions and be reflective about their practices. The transformation over the course of the year was quite amazing. Teachers were able to see how their students were becoming more thoughtful and connected and to see changes in their own practices and previously held beliefs. It was an excellent growth experience. This is using blogging as professional development in the same hands on way we have used it in this course. Frankly, I believe this course is the most transformative course I have taken, and I do not feel it would have been the same had the approach been different. Blogging, taking time to read and to reflect have all been instrumental. Imagine a staff being coached and supported through this process - it would be so exciting. It would be a professional development program that would change teacher practice and directly impact student learning in a positive way!
Blogging, Teaching and Learning
It doesn't take long, surfing around online, to come across blogs written by teens. Many are of the "Dear Diary" type and few are as Will Richardson notes in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, "...using their sites as places of critical thinking and analytical writing and reflection" (2009, pp. 44). I don't think we can ignore the changing needs of students in the 21st century. Blogs provide teachers with an opportunity to help students practice and/or develop many important skills. Modelling has always been an effective technique in the classroom forever, so it's no surprise that teachers should also model good blogging practices.
Richardson suggests starting small with blogs when using them in the classrooms. "The most obvious initial implemntation is first to use Weblogs as a place to poost homework assignments and relevent class links" (2009, pp 45). He suggests this is the best way to get a feel for the tool. It will also help get students into the practice of reading your blog. He also suggests that you read some good blogs with your students to show them what good blogging looks like.
Richardson goes on to describe the process of introducing students to blogging by perhaps having them respond to your posts and moving towards having them think and respond to questions with lots of practice in class around how to do that well (2009, pp. 46). Slowly he moves into having small groups of students create posts before getting to the stage where students would have their own site.
In looking at Richardson's process, I can see that students would be reading, thinking, writing, collaborating, and connecting. In my ELA 20 class, I currently have two students who are doing a different novel than the rest of the class (they had already studied the novel we were doing). I decided to have them start their own blog about the novel they are reading. I missed a couple of important steps in getting them ready to do this. I am doing what Julia Davies and Guy Merchant in their book Web 2.0 for Schools grouped into their first level of response to the technology. "Online activity that replicates traditional print literacy practices. This describes Web 2.0 work this is unadventurous but safe. Perhaps this sort of response is a starting point" (2009, pp. 104). However, I have found that the technology has been motivating. I had them do their work on a blog because the rest of my class is blogging with partners in the States about their novel. At first, I gave them topics to respond to. I asked them to use reading comprehension strategies and respond with connections to self, text and the world. I also asked them to ask questions. I responded to their posts. Then, I introduced the idea of linking to other sites that had interesting information on their topic or that they thought added to their ideas. Then they came to me and asked if they could blog with each other and try to make each other think deeper. Their first posts to that end are due this week, so I will see how they have made out, but they were excited by the prospect. I have asked a couple of teachers I know who have read their novel to drop in and comment/question as well.
In a 2004 article entitled Educational Blogging, Stephen Downes examines the whole idea of blogging in schools. He visits a Grade 5 class in Quebec City where students are blogging and loving it. Dominic Ouellet-Tremblay, one of those students wrote: "The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and motivate us to write more. When we publish on our blog, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link. This way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like. We can then know if people like what we write and this indicate[s to] us what to do better. By reading these comments, we can know our weaknesses and our talents. Blogging is an opportunity to exchange our point of view with the rest of the world not just people in our immediate environment." Aside from the fact that I'm blown away a Grade 5 student can write as well as he does in that quote, it really illuminates the power that blogging has for students. It comes from an authentic purpose and an audience that is not contrived or consisting of just the teacher.
However, Will Richardson is quoted in the article as having concerns with blogging in the school setting because it is, in fact, contrived. Teachers dictate that students must blog. Students are not choosing to blog. As he notes, "By its very nature, assigned blogging in schools cannot be blogging. It’s contrived. No matter how much we want to spout off about the wonders of audience and readership, students who are asked to blog are blogging for an audience of one, the teacher." When the semester ends, "students drop blogging like wet cement."
Reading this makes me wonder then if it is worthwhile at all. Is there any value in blogging if it is contrived and the student is not really motivated to write? Richardson is quoted later in the article as noting that blogging has the potential to help students think more critically and be more reflective. After I thought about this, I decided that students who are not introduced to blogging and who don't learn what good blogging looks like may never blog, or at least they may never blog really well. That in itself is a good reason to provide the opportunity. It's not for everyone. It's not the cure all for lagging literacy. It is but one tool, and I think I need to try and provide an opportunity for a tool with so much potential.
I guess the one thing I need to consider is how to create an experience or an opportunity that is closest to a natural one? Maybe part of it is having them blog on a classroom site and then for me to work to make the classroom site one that people read thus giving more exposure to the students' writings resulting in more authentic comments and dialogue with others about their topics. Or maybe it is my part to develop partnerships. Even after all this reading, I am not sure of the best way to proceed. It will be an area for further study.
According to Support Blogging, a wiki about blogging (I think that's kind of funny), blogging has some real benefits for students including: helping them find voice, creating enthusiasm for writing, connecting students so they may have conversation, teaching them about responsible journalism and empowering them. Previously, I might have jumped all over this and begun shouting it from the rooftops, but the cautions of Richardson from the arlier article remind me that to start students blogging and think all of this will happen automatically is irresponsible.
Resistance is futile! Embrace blogging, or at least give it a try. Blogging gave me a chance to dust off those cobwebs and really think. It expanded my horizons about education and what other educators are doing. It gave me a forum for sharing what I had learned and is helping me to begin to develop my own voice and carve out my own space in the online world. I am just beginning, but I am looking forward to developing relationships and partnerships with educators around the world.
Welcome to Blogosphere. May you live long (online) and prosper!
Blogging, Teaching and Learning
It doesn't take long, surfing around online, to come across blogs written by teens. Many are of the "Dear Diary" type and few are as Will Richardson notes in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, "...using their sites as places of critical thinking and analytical writing and reflection" (2009, pp. 44). I don't think we can ignore the changing needs of students in the 21st century. Blogs provide teachers with an opportunity to help students practice and/or develop many important skills. Modelling has always been an effective technique in the classroom forever, so it's no surprise that teachers should also model good blogging practices.
Richardson suggests starting small with blogs when using them in the classrooms. "The most obvious initial implemntation is first to use Weblogs as a place to poost homework assignments and relevent class links" (2009, pp 45). He suggests this is the best way to get a feel for the tool. It will also help get students into the practice of reading your blog. He also suggests that you read some good blogs with your students to show them what good blogging looks like.
Richardson goes on to describe the process of introducing students to blogging by perhaps having them respond to your posts and moving towards having them think and respond to questions with lots of practice in class around how to do that well (2009, pp. 46). Slowly he moves into having small groups of students create posts before getting to the stage where students would have their own site.
In looking at Richardson's process, I can see that students would be reading, thinking, writing, collaborating, and connecting. In my ELA 20 class, I currently have two students who are doing a different novel than the rest of the class (they had already studied the novel we were doing). I decided to have them start their own blog about the novel they are reading. I missed a couple of important steps in getting them ready to do this. I am doing what Julia Davies and Guy Merchant in their book Web 2.0 for Schools grouped into their first level of response to the technology. "Online activity that replicates traditional print literacy practices. This describes Web 2.0 work this is unadventurous but safe. Perhaps this sort of response is a starting point" (2009, pp. 104). However, I have found that the technology has been motivating. I had them do their work on a blog because the rest of my class is blogging with partners in the States about their novel. At first, I gave them topics to respond to. I asked them to use reading comprehension strategies and respond with connections to self, text and the world. I also asked them to ask questions. I responded to their posts. Then, I introduced the idea of linking to other sites that had interesting information on their topic or that they thought added to their ideas. Then they came to me and asked if they could blog with each other and try to make each other think deeper. Their first posts to that end are due this week, so I will see how they have made out, but they were excited by the prospect. I have asked a couple of teachers I know who have read their novel to drop in and comment/question as well.
In a 2004 article entitled Educational Blogging, Stephen Downes examines the whole idea of blogging in schools. He visits a Grade 5 class in Quebec City where students are blogging and loving it. Dominic Ouellet-Tremblay, one of those students wrote: "The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and motivate us to write more. When we publish on our blog, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link. This way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like. We can then know if people like what we write and this indicate[s to] us what to do better. By reading these comments, we can know our weaknesses and our talents. Blogging is an opportunity to exchange our point of view with the rest of the world not just people in our immediate environment." Aside from the fact that I'm blown away a Grade 5 student can write as well as he does in that quote, it really illuminates the power that blogging has for students. It comes from an authentic purpose and an audience that is not contrived or consisting of just the teacher.
However, Will Richardson is quoted in the article as having concerns with blogging in the school setting because it is, in fact, contrived. Teachers dictate that students must blog. Students are not choosing to blog. As he notes, "By its very nature, assigned blogging in schools cannot be blogging. It’s contrived. No matter how much we want to spout off about the wonders of audience and readership, students who are asked to blog are blogging for an audience of one, the teacher." When the semester ends, "students drop blogging like wet cement."
Reading this makes me wonder then if it is worthwhile at all. Is there any value in blogging if it is contrived and the student is not really motivated to write? Richardson is quoted later in the article as noting that blogging has the potential to help students think more critically and be more reflective. After I thought about this, I decided that students who are not introduced to blogging and who don't learn what good blogging looks like may never blog, or at least they may never blog really well. That in itself is a good reason to provide the opportunity. It's not for everyone. It's not the cure all for lagging literacy. It is but one tool, and I think I need to try and provide an opportunity for a tool with so much potential.
I guess the one thing I need to consider is how to create an experience or an opportunity that is closest to a natural one? Maybe part of it is having them blog on a classroom site and then for me to work to make the classroom site one that people read thus giving more exposure to the students' writings resulting in more authentic comments and dialogue with others about their topics. Or maybe it is my part to develop partnerships. Even after all this reading, I am not sure of the best way to proceed. It will be an area for further study.
According to Support Blogging, a wiki about blogging (I think that's kind of funny), blogging has some real benefits for students including: helping them find voice, creating enthusiasm for writing, connecting students so they may have conversation, teaching them about responsible journalism and empowering them. Previously, I might have jumped all over this and begun shouting it from the rooftops, but the cautions of Richardson from the arlier article remind me that to start students blogging and think all of this will happen automatically is irresponsible.
Resistance is futile! Embrace blogging, or at least give it a try. Blogging gave me a chance to dust off those cobwebs and really think. It expanded my horizons about education and what other educators are doing. It gave me a forum for sharing what I had learned and is helping me to begin to develop my own voice and carve out my own space in the online world. I am just beginning, but I am looking forward to developing relationships and partnerships with educators around the world.
Welcome to Blogosphere. May you live long (online) and prosper!
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