Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

Will Richardson points to comments made by some promienent educational technologists and their description of blogging.

What got me going was when Hall Davidson said “Blogs are online journals when done right” and then added that it’s “not a format that going to pull anything else out of you” compared to more traditional tools. David Thornburg had an equally lukewarm assessment, and while Peter Reynolds I think got it more than the rest, he didn’t get the chance to articulate it very well. (He also said that he considered MySpace a blogging site.)

Ok, I know. Let it go. The thing that gets me is that none of these three are bloggers of any consistency, at least that I can find. Hall does blog at the Discovery Educator Network, but not very often. And I guess I just wish they wouldn’t opine about the usefulness of technologies that they don’t fully understand. Blogs are much more than online journals when done right. They offer much more than the traditional tools in terms of giving voice, building community, enhancing learning not just from a writing standpoint.

So the question I have is why don’t they blog? I’m not suggesting that this is the only form of communication but right now this is the best tool for engaging in global conversation. I’m guessing they’d say time is an issue. That simply tells you where it fits on their priority. I’m guessing they understand blogging but without really experiencing it, it’s difficult to appreciate the real professional development that occurs. The conversations that I’m involved with and the resources that have been shared with me cannot be overstated.

If it’s valuable, you need to be involved and you need to be blogging. On the question of time, I’m responding to Will’s post when I’ve got a meeting in 22 minutes, 10 unanswered emails and some other paper work. I’ll get to those things but this is important too. Maybe more. If a post like this attracts the likes of David Thronburg, and Hall Davidson to write more, great. I’ve heard David Thronburg speak and he’s got lots to say. I’ve heard others talk about Hall Davidson but I don’t know him because he really doesn’t blog. I’d love get into conversations with them.

I’m a small blip on the edublogoshpere but because of my conversations with David Warlick and his willingness to be part of the global conversation, he’s agreed to sit down with me next week at FETC. I got to spend 2 hours with Stephen Downes in November. That’s powerful and not that I’ll be able to meet everyone who I subscribe to but this likely would not have occured if I weren’t involved in the global conversation.

I’m talking to our directors and superintendents about blogging. I think I’ve got them interested and excited. There are many in our local school division who want to be part of big conversations. We want our leaders to blog. Please Mr. Thronburg when can I subscribe to your blog?

If you make presentations, you need to be subscribing to Presentation Zen. As part of a recent post on using clear visuals, this example of an effective visual was used.

Meaning? Blogs must keep moving or they die. Constantly in motion. As someone who has gotten a lot of blogs going for people, I’ll use this image/analogy as part of my routine. When I say to people, I can get you up and running with a blog in a few minutes, it seems almost too easy and it is. The hard part is maintaining it. Finding something to “feed” on.

As we try to help our students and teachers understand the importance of information literacy, it’s often a difficult task to visual the future.

Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson have created a history of media video from 2015. It begins in the late 1980’s as the internet as a public media begins. It proposes some interesting possiblities about the future including the demise of the New York Times to become a print only form for the elite and elderly. David Warlick used the 2014 version for a recent presentation. Viewing this will hopefully raise a number of questions, concerns and meaningful dialouge about the changing nature of information.

When your seven year old wants her own website, what do you do?

Check out marthastories.blogspot.com

Kathy Cassidy and her blogging grade ones are working closely with another grade one class to get them started blogging. Be sure to head over to Kathy’s class and Keith’s class and leave a comment to encourage these young writers.

First graders helping other first graders drink the blog koolaid…”that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout!”

Bubble Share has been making the rounds throughout the blogosphere. While it’s tough to beat flickr, it rivals SlideStory. The ability to add narration and doing it so easily makes it a worth a look.

Made this one in about 5 minutes.