Buckingham, Jim ‘H808 - My notes’, blog, [online] Available from: http://buckinsand.blogspot.com/ (Accessed 5 January 2009).Categories are
Chandler, Jeff (2008) ‘WordPress Forum User Guide ’, Weblog Tools Collection, blog, [online] Available from: http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/12/24/wordpress-forum-user-guide/ (Accessed 5 January 2009).
Crawford, Justin ‘The Campus Press Blogs ’, Educause Learning Initiative, [online] Available from: http://www.educause.edu/ELI/ELIDiscoveryToolGuidetoBloggin/TheCampusPressBlogs/13563 (Accessed 5 January 2009).
Educause (n.d.) ‘What Faculty Want to Know ’, Educause Learning Initiative, [online] Available from: http://www.educause.edu/ELI/ELIDiscoveryToolGuidetoBloggin/WhatFacultyWanttoKnow/13566 (Accessed 5 January 2009).
GeoBlogs ‘Google Earth Users Guide Project’, blog, [online] Available from: http://googlearthusersguide.blogspot.com/ (Accessed 5 January 2009).
Peachey, Nik ‘Nik's Learning Technology Blog’, blog, [online] Available from: http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/ (Accessed 5 January 2009).
Stevens, Vance ‘adVancEducation’, blog, [online] Available from: http://advanceducation.blogspot.com/ (Accessed 5 January 2009).
Various ‘UMW Blogs’, blog, [online] Available from: http://umwblogs.org/ (Accessed 1 January 2009).
Various ‘Zotero: The Next-Generation Research Tool’, blog, [online] Available from: http://www.zotero.org/blog/ (Accessed 5 January 2009).
Weller, Martin (2008) ‘Blogging isn't about fame’, The Ed Techie, [online] Available from: http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/no_good_reason/2008/12/blogging-isnt-about-fame.html (Accessed 5 January 2009).
- subject domain / topic
- professional reflections
- personal reflections
- student reflections
- community building / sharing
- utility - how to do
- a short description
- an example or two to help illustrate it
- comment on some of the main issues that arise from using blogs in this way
subject domain / topic
These are blogs that choose to focus on a specific subject domain in education or educational topic. There were many examples to choose from - mathematics, economics as well as English composition or literature. Most notable for me were these two and their work in promoting the critical use of technology in EFL instruction.professional reflections
Nik Peachey's "Nik's Learning Technology Blog" and Vance Steven's ‘adVancEducation’, blog, both examine educational technology issues that they have personally encountered in their work context as EFL instructors in differing parts of the world. Peachey (Morocco) examines readily available specific technologies or web based tools and examines how how they might be used by educators. He also offers step by step guidelines on how to realize them. Notably absent? Comments from readers. Peachey's work tends to be more "how to" focussed.
Stevens (UAE) tends to place research work that was done to support various conference presentations, on his blog for broader review from readers. However, he also includes interesting annecdotal and reflective review of his experiences or encounters at these same conferences. Steven's work tends to examine an assortment of issues related to exploring the use of a given technology.
Here a professional uses their blog as a place to put out a plea for review, inviting open dialogue from a community of similar professionals to have their ideas tested and challenged.personal reflections
Martin Weller's ‘Blogging isn't about fame’, demonstrates this sort of dialogue or engagement with a broader audience who take him to task on his earlier pronouncement on the value of technocrati ratings. He uses this post to clarify what he meant .. such ratings act as a "very rough proxy" of how well one is communicating one's ideas.
Stevens, Vance ‘adVancEducation’, blog, also invites the same. However, because the typical blog entry is fairly short (and typically needs to be to invite readership).. it appears to be somewhat problematic when attempting to discuss or present very detailed or complex issues
Finding these is problematic because they are often hidden from view. However, I know they exist because I and many of my colleagues have asked students to create them. I suspect that these make up the bulk of the many millions of blogs spoken of in literature on blogging. Here students can practice free writing, journalling and sharing their ideas with a select group of trusted friends or even instructors. Are they educational? They have the potential to be .. even if they invite personal reflection from the writer and are done outside of a structured formal education setting.student reflections
Very similar to personal reflections however these tend to be more project or goal based. For example, all of the blogs for H808 are in most cases compiled based on the various activities assigned in the course. These tend to be more academic based reflections.community building / sharing
My own H808 - notes blog is but one example of this.
A few issues raised here? Educause writers note that some critiques argue instructors may be robbing the exercise of pleasure and purpose the moment they are made compulsory. Others express concerns about protecting student privacy , how to assess such developmental work, and where to host such services to protect students still in development.
Blogs or often an aggregation of blogs and their ability to provide constantly dynamic content can be used as a form of community building or informing tool in an educational setting. More and more examples of this are emerging in college or university contexts and often employing communications students.utility - how to do
A blog set up by the University of Mary Washington is actually a collection of blogs made by various communities found within the broader university community. Justin Crawford's own reflective piece on the origins of just such a blog press and the unexpected problems it encountered are mentioned in yet another article.
Many online user manuals that have been drawn up to support web based utilities, are blogs. This is especially useful when a product is either still evolving or experiencing "bugs". Updates can be noted and made immediately available to users via RSS feeds. The new users can also comment on these updates thus realizing feedback for program developers to help improve their product. In other words, the blog becomes a user manual that has been tried, tested and written by users.
Zotero is an open source product that used a blog to announce updates, solicit reviews of those updates, etc.
Another borderline example is the "Google Earth Users Guide Project". It borders on being a Geography related (topic based) blog but provides readers with ideas and instructions on ways in which Google Earth can be used in education.
Still another is Chandler, Jeff Chandler's work on a ‘WordPress Forum User Guide ’, and the reaction from end users to it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment