What's the Point?

Review on
Educational Blogging
Source: Downes, S. (2004) Educational Blogging. EDUCAUSE Review, 39(5) pp 14–26.

Seipp (2002) commented on how blog was mainly for personal online diary with boyfriend problems and tech news, but all those changed after September 11, where the media refers to a web journal with comments on the news "often by criticizing the media and usually in rudely clever tones". It seems that an event that affects the world could enthrall the global citizens to manipulate the use of social media, especially in sharing feelings, ideas, knowledge, news, and other materials that matter most to individuals. It's a way of exploding one's long-lost excitement or frustration, and the latest technology available is the medium to channel that 'energy'.

In the hands of teachers and learners, 5 major uses for blogs can be listed according to Farrell (2003):

1. Teachers use blogs to replace the standard class Web page.
2. (Often accompanying the first) instructors begin to link to Internet items that relate to their course.
3. Blogs are used to organize in-class discussions.
4. Some instructors are using blogs to organize class seminars and to provide summaries of readings.
5. Students may be asked to write their own blogs as part of their course grade.

Motivating factors for blogging, according to Siemens (2002), are:

• weblogs break down barriers
• weblogs allow ideas to be based on merit, rather than origin, and ideas that are of quality filter across the Internet
• weblogs allow readers to hear the day-to-day thoughts of individuals, hear opinions of people they would never otherwise hear.

Long (2004) asked good questions with his opinion that he's not convinced that using the blogging software is the same as blogging. "Does posting writing prompts for students constitute blogging? Are students blogging when they use blogging software to write to those prompts?" I had the same questions earlier. In my opinion, unless the students really 'write' out of their interest and for certain intent, and stick to the routine of publishing their write-up, only then it can be considered blogging. I know some of my students who really blogs, and they tried various blog-sites before they stick to one that fulfil their purpose. Of course, no one really taught them how to blog because it's not part of their course (they're non-IT student).

Richardson (2004) has the same thought as mine too in response to this matter: "No matter how much we want to spout off about the wonders of audience and readership, students who are asked to blog are blogging for an audience of one, the teacher." It's the teacher who asks the students to write in order to get assignment marks, and of course the way the students 'write' would be tailored for the one audience in mind - their teacher. So how can we be sure that they understand the meaning of blogging, if they themselves are not 'writing' out of their own will and for larger audience? If I were the students (before being a blogger myself), I would feel very reluctant and cautious to 'write' for my teacher as well, and thus the write-up would be neatly written to ensure good grade from the teacher - other audience won't be in the picture at all. "When given their own resources to draw on, bloggers, especially young bloggers, can become frustrated and may eventually report having 'committed the ultimate blogging sin of losing interest in myself'".

"... as time goes by, blogging resembles more and more a conversation. And for a conversation to be successful, it must be given a purpose and it must remain, for the most part, unconstrained" (Downes, 2004). Even when we read a blog, we would notice that the writer uses a 'conversation language', as if having a monologue, pouring out the whole thought he would be having at that instance. I know I do that! And in order to write with the first instance of thought, one should not be constrained too much... only then it is called 'blogging'.

Blogging, however, offers students a chance to:

• reflect on what they are writing and thinking as they write and think it,
• carry on writing about a topic over a sustained period of time, maybe a lifetime, and
• engage readers and audience in a sustained conversation that then leads to further writing and thinking

... but in getting there...? It might take some time for the 'young bloggers' or students to really get to the point where they develop "all sorts of critical thinking skills, writing skills and information literacy among other things" (Richardson, 2004).

I like the idea of 'listening' before venturing forth with an opinion. We, as educators, should assign the students to "go read and then link to what interests them and write about why it does and what it means" (Smith, 2004). I guess that's what Siemens is trying to do in our CENL2008 course, by 'taming' us with social bookmarking, forum, and now blogging the topic we tagged! Thank you, George! [Now, I can say, "I see! I see!" ;-)]

Basically, blogging is about "writing down what you think when you read others. If you keep at it, others will eventually write down what they think when they read you, and you’ll enter a new realm of blogging, a new realm of human connection" (Richardson, 2004). This process would eventually contribute to the body of knowledge, or giving a spark of idea to a researcher in proposing new theory, or other wonderful things that a 'new realm of human connection' can give.

"Blogging is about, first, reading what is of interest to you: your culture, your community, your ideas. And it is about engaging with the content and with the authors of what you have read—reflecting, criticizing, questioning, reacting. If a student has nothing to blog about, it is because the student has not yet stretched out to the larger world, has not yet learned to meaningfully engage in a community" (Downes, 2004). This is quite true, because until you read somebody's writing (on the topic of your interest) that you would feel intrigued (to question) or provoked (to criticize) until it occurs to you that you have a lot of ideas and... Why don't I just blog!?

So… am I blogging now??

References:

Farrell, H. (2003) The Street Finds Its Own Use for Things, Crooked Timber, http://www.crookedtimber.org/archives/000516.html.

Long, R. (2004) Back from San Antonio, 2River, http://www.2river.org/blog/archives/000077.html.

Richardson, W. (2004) Blogging and RSS—The ‘What’s It?’ and ‘How To’ of Powerful New Web Tools for Educators, Information Today, http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/richardson.shtml.

Richardson, W. (2004) Reading and Blogging, Weblogg-Ed, http://www.weblogg-ed.com/2004/03/31

Seipp, C. (2002) Online Uprising, American Journalism Review, http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=2555.

Siemens, G. (2002) The Art of Blogging—Part 1, elearnspace, http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/blogging_part_1.htm.

Smith, K. (2004) CCCC Waves and Ripples, Weblogs in Higher Education, http://www.mchron.net/site/edublog_comments.php?id=P2636_0_13_0.

Making sense of the point my blogging,
- Sha @ Teaching and Learning
06 Oct 2008