The Practice and Art of Blogging
Assigned reading: Reflections from the Introduction of Blogs and RSS Feeds into a Preservice Instructional Technology Course by Ricard E. West, etc….
As we begin commenting on each others blogs this week, the article was timely. The premise of the article is that teachers learn just like their students learn (they are not an entirely different species teachers and students!) – through doing, reading, reflecting and collaborating. There is a brief introduction to what is a blog and the advantages of a blog (cheap, easy way to publish, accessible, audience, way to contribute and learn from community of people with a similar interest and dialog).
From here the authors reflect on two groups of teachers that they introduced to blogging. The first group had a generally favorable response to blogging and found the blogs to be a helpful in stimulating dialogs, reflection and learning. However the instructors felt that the students neglected posting to their blogs regularly and did not see consistent responding to their peers.
I found the gap between the student’s perceived satisfaction with blogs and the instructor’s dissatisfaction with the way blogs were used to be interesting. The instructors decided to add more structure to the blogging of the second group. The second time around the instructors taught the “conceptual basis of the tools – how they differed from other online tools.” p. 56 The instructors also added RSS feeds as a way to keep up with student postings in the second group.
Guidelines implemented by the instructors for the second class included:
- developing a well defined purpose for the new technology
- the purpose of the blog – private, or for discussion
- teaching how to use track backs and comments, blog rolls and perma links for discussion blogs
- addressing technical issues of establishing a blog
- modeling good blogging practice, reflective, links, writing for an audience, etc…
- need to review strategies after implementing (ie: a few weeks in re-evaluate what is working what is not working).
It seemed the larger take away (or, one of them) is that instruction needs to be clear and expectations defined before launching into blogging with a class. Also, be prepared to be supportive on technical issues as you introduce blogs to your class.
I’d love to hear more about what makes for the art of blogging? Your thoughts?
Sheri, I thought you posted a great question.
I did some searches and found this link: http://lorelle.wordpress.com/books/blogging-tips/
I agree that there’s an art to blogging. I hope to learn that art since blogging can be useful for education.
Kerry
I, too, hope to gain some experience in the “art” of blogging. I like how you referred to it as an art.
The article did give us some good tips about how to prepare for using blogs. It’s a good reminder that we need to make sure our students know how to use the technology and what the purpose is.
Sheri,
Great post! I agree that blogging must be an art, one that I am sadly lacking.
I think that the variety of blogging techniques fall into very different categories.
If the plan is to use a blog for education, I would think it would have a more scholarly tone. A blog for personal use would be much more relaxed and “fun”.
If we’re going to use blogs in class, it’s necessary to insert a bit of structure into the blog requirement. I think that both courses this semester have provided the necessary guidance.
But in my case, I’ve also inserted a bit of personal ‘whining’ with regards to my anxieties about re-entering the MA program.
Although portions of my blog might not follow course guidelines, I’ve actually found it helpful to vent and receive feedback from fellow students, providing encouragement to keep me going.
Leisa