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Is Blogging 4 us?

After an inspiring keynote speech at the KS Ed Tech Conference on June 9th, I thought it might be fun to explore the idea of blogging in our department & with our programs. For this OWAU session please read the article found here & post your comments. If you have the time (hahaha) you might want to select one of the web site readings listed in the "Notes" or reference section of the article & share what you learned, too. http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/EducationalBlogging/40493

I was thinking that this might be a way that we can share our OWAU articles without taking up too much time during our meetings. Also, I was thinking about possibly adding blogging to our VSDL newsletter if we decide to move to an online version. Thoughts?

Also on a side note, this blog was created using blogger.com that's affiliated with Google. This post should be private, if I set it up right ;), & only invited people have access. I just wanted to test this out.

Comments

Anonymous said…
My thoughts on the article:

I found this article to give good background info on blogs in general. I like the examples provided, especially how it's been used in a f-2-f classroom setting. I also found Henry Farrell's 5 Major Uses for Blogging in Ed. to be useful & particularly liked 4 & 5. I'd like to learn more about blogging & using it within lessons as I see lots of potential for both the `Ike HI program & A`o Makua. Anything to keep my h.s. kids engaged would be an asset. :)
Clinton said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Christy said…
KC, I really appreciate you pushing us to look at this new technology. The conference was amazingly focused and well thought about in terms of tying together the 2.0 technology. I was inspired by you to look at David Warlick's Blog http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/and found interesting posts about his time here in Hawai'i and a mention about Jeep's blog.

For this article, I was particularly intrigued by the statement "Writers will write because they can’t not write."Pilgrim’s moving declaration should be read as a cautionary note: writing weblogs is not for everybody. You really have to have something focused to say...something that will keep people interested.

I'm eager to see what your thoughts on in terms of finding uses for the 'IKe HI students especially. How this type of medium could motivate them vs. be similar to a contrived assignment (which the article warns about). I have no doubts you'll find a way and hope you will share it with us in this blog.
Anonymous said…
Joan's comments:

It was an interesting article that pointed out realistic pitfalls and possibilities for learning through blogs. I got a little restless as it was long, but that's the point ....online reading, and writing, have to be personally ENGAGING.

This esp. interested me...
"..Despite obvious appearances, blogging isn’t really about writing at all; that’s just the end point of the process, the outcome that occurs more or less naturally if everything else has been done right.

...Blogging is about, first, reading. ...And it is about engaging with the content and with the authors of what you have read—reflecting, criticizing, questioning, reacting. "

The last sentence is of course what we are aiming for in all teaching, but its a challenge because he says blogging needs to be unconstrained and without much of the structured prompting we find necessary to get the particular outcome for a particular assignment.

But if it can be achieved, its worth the effort. Our students need to be able to first understand their and others' perspectives, then to articulate a discussion in a way others want to listen to.
'
Interesting with LOTS of potential. Thanks for moving us along Kelly!
Dorothy said…
I mirror everyone's thoughts. Mahalo e Kelly for moving us forward with venturing into blogging for our owau sessions.

I enjoyed reading the article. It brought up valid points for educators to ponder when venturing into blogging with their students. This part of the article stuck with me...
"And herein lies the dilemma for educators. What happens when a free-flowing medium such as blogging interacts with the more restrictive domains of the educational system? What happens when the necessary rules and boundaries of the system are imposed on students who are writing blogs, when grades are assigned in order to get students to write at all, and when posts are monitored to ensure that they don’t say the wrong things?"

Just thinking of the possibilities of integration for our DL programs. Teachers blogging for students to read? Free for all blogging by students in a casual environment to encourage reading/sharing? Restricted blogging for specific topic discussions?

BTW, I like the idea of adding a blog for to our newsletter component.

Lots to think about and possibly venture into...Looking forward to our owau discussion.

Dorothy
Clinton said…
I found this article to be a nice compliment to the Ed Tech Conference last week. It reinforces what we heard in the keynotes about the contrasting pedagogies between blogging and the traditional educational system. I remember Will Richardson saying that one of the factors to blog is our "passion" of the topic. Though that leaves all educators with the challenge of how to get their students passionate about all topics that students need to learn.
Kelly D. said…
I echo all of your comments regarding the ETS Conference. Ideas instantly sparked when both keynote speakers described their experiences with blogging; both personal and professional. Of course, the first thing I thought was "I should blog about my kids - everyday is a new experience that I swear would make great sit-com material!" Then I thought about building community and how, in an online learning environment, we know that this is a component that, while it is not essential, it certainly enriches the learning experience. I'm always looking at things from a "teacher's perspective." You can take the girl out of the classroom, but you can't take the classroom out of the girl (Corny, I know), but blogs are supposed to be conversational, right? Anyways, besides the fact that blogging can serve as a great way to build relationships in an online course, another part of the article that I liked the best was: "REVERSE THE FLOW." "Blogging can and should reverse this flow. The process of reading online, engaging a community, and reflecting on it online is a process of bringing life into learning." A teacher can take the exact same content and, depending on how he or she presents it, can get very different student reactions and levels of engagment. Making the content relevant, connecting to real experiences and essentially "bringing life into learning" is what will make the difference on how much or how little students will engage, relate to, analyze and fully internalize it. Applicable to VSDL? I think yes in all the ways all of you have previously listed. Okay, nobody will probably read this because I posted so late and I could go on and on about the potential I see in regards to building literacy skills as mentioned in the article (real audience, real purpose, and besides practicing basic writing skills; developing voice is something that can't be taught but seems to be developed in and comes through so loud and clear in blogs). So "to blog or not to blog?" I think we should try it (I know, I know - baby steps); objectives in mind and goals in line (but it really shouldn't be too prescriptive which defeats the whole purpose) and keep it simple. . .Okay, now I'm really pau because I'm hungry. See you all in a bit.

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