We?re Blogging at eSchool News Online

The “official” launch isn’t until Monday, but the new eSchool News “Ed Tech Insider” Weblog is up and running, featuring the blogging insights of yours truly, Tim, Tom, Anne, Steve and a few other edbloggers. I think it’s a great opportunity for all of us to reach a much, much wider audience of teachers and administrators not only about the Internet technologies (blogs, wikis, rss, etc.) that we normally write about but about other ed tech issues as well. I’m pretty psyched to have the opportunity. Thanks to Clarity Innovations for the initiative. Here’s the RSS feed.
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I miss blogging!

I am consumed with keeping all the pieces of this research on blogging into a manageable form that will be useful as we start this summer digging into all that has transpired and what it means. I have had much to learn about the research process and one side aspect of this project is that I have been unable to blog in the manner that I am accustomed to. I don’t want to do anything that would jeopardize the results. The problem is that I don’t know what areas those are so mostly I have been quiet about everything. I can’t tell you how many posts I’ve started but then not finished. I’m also knee deep in transcribing sessions. I’ve been using Dragon software - my less than “affectionate” name for the software is Cruella. Transcribing is a tedious and time-consuming process.

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More on blogging and the DNC

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CyberJournalist lists the individuals credentialed as bloggers, on Who’s Blogging the Convention. and says that an entirely new stream of information from political conventions is being created. Journalists blogging for news sites, delegation and party members blogging from the convention and other blogging from the convention are listed. They make a note that this list is continuing to be updated. Wow! So many voices!

Open Source Blogging Session and Other Early NECC Reflections

Pretty amazing that the 40 computers in my open source session at 8:30 were claimed by 7:45 and that a good 150 people (if not more) crammed into the room by the start time. (The photo was taken at about 8:15.) And even more amazing that the Internet connection basically went dead but I think the presentation went pretty well anyway. I’d guess about 40% of the people raised hands when I asked how many were bloggers or used blogs. And some really good questions saved me from tap dancing too much.

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Blogging Ballet

I’m dancing once again. This time it is in Ohio. It’s not the tango, rather this time it is ballet! Did you see that beautiful pirouette I made?

Seriously, Lani Ritter Hall is conducting a workshop at Ohio Connects! Bridging Learning, Technology and Achievement Conference. This is their state technology conference being held in Columbus, Ohio. Here’s a description of her workshop:

Blogging in the K-12 classroom: Real World, Standards-based Learning!

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Blogging policy at its best

In my workshop last week I had referred to the AHS blogging policy. It is an excellent example. One feature of it that I really liked was the section on “Successful bloggers”. This approach is so much more uplifting than a list of “do not’s.” Approaching blogging from the angle of what bloggers should aspire to achieve. It doesn’t get better than that. An example of what appropriate blogging for schools looks like is provided. This tangible example really helps. It is actual work taken from an AHS classroom blog, with typos corrected. This policy is a model for us to aspire to achieve. You may want to adapt parts to fit your school’s needs and reshape it to meet your objectives.

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A new blogging project is brewing!

A new blogging project is brewing and I can’t wait! I met with two teachers at a nearby high school. One had called me to ask for some “Open House” help in the technology part and one had visited the Blogical Minds group last year and expressed interest in a project. That led to a meeting with the two of them and they are ready to venture into the world of blogging! I will be blogging with two classes to begin with - both are ninth grade and one class is biology and the other group is a gifted class. In the gifted class we will be centering in on environmental issues. They are known as the green team. I don’t have all the details yet but I will return next Tuesday and spend a lot of time observing that day as we begin to construct and plan. If anyone can point me to good high school examples of class blogs along with student blogs I would be most appreciative. Of course Darren’s blogs are terrific and I always point to them as a model. I hope the teachers will be interested in using scribes. We discussed the gifted class mentoring the elementary classes as the classroom teacher from last year’s project is going to be up and going soon. I will be going out to that school the end of next week to help them set it up.I have been thinking and planning. It made me think how I used to prepare for my elementary classes for the year. I always went to high school sources and materials and then adapted them for use with the elementary students. I could find more interesting items. I could get more ideas. Now I have the web to travel around and learn from others but tips from you high school experts would be great! I haven’t been able to find enough examples of student blogs so please point me in those directions if you know of some.

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Blogging the World News

I think about the evolution of blogs as serious news sources probably way more than I should, but as an educator and journalism junkie, I can’t help but try to figure out what effect bloggers are going to have in terms of media literacy and consumption. I’m in the camp that says traditional journalism has some serious problems ahead, that more and more, forms of participatory journalism are going to cover the news that people consume. I think by and large that people who do any thinking at all about their sources of news have lost faith in the accuracy and trustworthiness of what’s being reported. It’s just becoming way too hard to separate fact from opinion and story from advertising. Trouble is, of course, is that there are too many people who don’t give what they read or hear a second thought.

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Five Years of Classroom Blogging

I know that I have said this before, but very few edubloggers out there have more practical experience than Barbara Ganley at Middlebury College. She’s back from an extended break with a post that talks about getting ready for her fifth year of using blogs in the classroom.

And so, here I am, back again, delighted to be a part of this evolution of blogs in our classrooms, convinced that we should take the time to help our students develop a grammar of and a practice of academic blogging, both individual and collaborative, then pretty much step out of the way except to ask questions and provide feedback (i.e. step out of the center of the blog and thus the classroom). Our students will surprise themselves by how much they accomplish even in a single course in a single semester. Imagine if all their courses, all their semesters, all their disciplines of study were connected via their blogging…

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Blogging Your Education

So Barbara has anotheranother great post up, writing about how her students are changing in their expectations and needs from their time in college. They are pushing against the traditional structures, asking to mix the classroom experience with online community and off campus travel, capturing all of it in their Weblogs with the voices of teachers and mentors and loved ones mixed in. I love that image…seriously love it…the reflective, interactive chronicling of learning. The getting it down, capturing the experience if for no other reason than to acknowledge it, and to help it take root. That is one of the reasons I maintain this space, to make the learning stick in my brain by articulating it in writing. It’s one thing to nod your head as you read or listen, but it’s another entirely to write it, especially for an audience.

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