Blogging in Professional Networks: Nov 8-26, 2010

Dear Michael,
Thanks for sharing this blog -- I want to share the site with my art therapy colleagues and connect that up with you. I'm slowly moving in the blogging area as I seem to read and post on other blogs more than work on my own blogs.
However, I do suffer from being very involved in a number of areas professionally including artmaking.

I'm very excited that Glenn is doing the blogging SCoPE webinar as he has so much to share in this area as he has been dedicated to writing and gathering what blogging is about as a rather new social, educational phenomenon.

I see so many important ways to reach out to many and I see that through the blogs, I am learning a lot about the heart of blogging.

Thanks again for sharing with us, Jo Ann

Hello Michael,

Thank you for this link.

I am an adult literacy instructor teaching English and Computers at Northwest Community College, in Prince Rupert, BC. I work with First Nations students and support remote delivery of upgrading courses for adult learners living in remote communities. This example of connecting off-campus leaners with on-campus learners is an amazing example of how to integrate blogging into instruction.

Blogging, for me, involves explorations, where learners engage in guided discovery learning. I use the image of the collection of kites flying high all tied to their guides by a string.

I was asked at a conference about the issue of assessment for students who are blogging. I came up with a tentative idea of tethered assessment - rather than placing assessment first, and then preparing an activity to match the outcomes, as is done in formal learning, blogging encourages us to engage in praxis, to perceive assessment in terms of how well a previously encountered event or activity has prepared us for the current event or activity. In effect, learners assess their learning based on how well it "fits" into the current requirements. A useful learning activity, then, for a blogger, is one that has had high relevance to current conditions, and one that has been referred to repeatedly over time to inform current/future practice.

Just an open thought- discussion?

Glenn

Michael,
You've said:
By and large colleagues feel that Blogging is a soft option and isn't challenging the students enough. I personally disagree and feel it gives students a dynamic creative space to express themselves in their terms... but other academics are hard to convince on this: tied as they are to more conventional modes of assessment..... just a few thoughts

(what happened to the quote feature??)

... anyway, I read "The Effect of Twitter on college student engagement & grades" today.
I'm not sure you'll be able to open it - it's possible that I can because I'm on campus & we have access to the journal via the library - in case you can't, the abstract concludes:
"This study provides experimental evidence that Twitter can be used as an educational tool to help engage students and to mobilize faculty into a more active and participatory role."

I know that Glenn said it was Twitter next week, but as I'd read that today, it was fresh in my mind!

Earlier this week I followed this link from Stephen Downe's blog to a post by Kim Cofino, an educational technology facilitator. She tells a story about working with English Department to introduce blogging into the curriculum. (I love these unexpected, relevant meanderings that start when I open Google Reader!)

Kim posted an excerpt from Will Richardson’s Blogs, Wikis, Podcast and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom on different levels of blogging:

Posting assignments (Not blogging) Journaling, i.e. “this is what I did today.” (Not blogging) Posting links. (Not blogging) Links with descriptive annotation, i.e., “This site is about…” (Not really blogging either, but getting close depending on the depth of the description). Links with analysis that gets into the meaning of the content being linked. (A simple form of blogging). Reflective, metacognitive writing on practice without links. (Complex writing, but simple blogging, I think. Commenting would probably fall in here somewhere). Links with analysis and synthesis that articulate a deeper understanding or relationship to the content being linked and written with potential audience in mind. (Real blogging). Extended analysis and synthesis over a longer period of time that builds on previous posts, links, and comments. (Complex blogging).

I had come across this continuum before, but hadn't really thought about it in terms of my own blogging practice. Looking at #7 and #8 I'm beginning to understand why I have so many drafts. It takes a lot of time and effort to do "real blogging". I like the way Glenn simply calls this a "sandbox". I've decided not to let my huge number of draft posts weigh me down!

Another way to look at different levels of blogging is to think about your audience. Who are you writing for and what do you expect from your readers? How interested are you in the connective nature of blogs, and the dialogue that builds around ideas posted on your blog? I've heard bloggers say "I don't blog for other people; my blog is just for myself". (I don't believe them for a minute!) Others take great care to respond to comments, track readership, notice how others are referencing their blogs, etc.

What would a 'who are you writing for' continuum look like?