I've been reading Will Richardson's excellent book, Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts. It is well written, inspiring, and very useful for getting started with these tools. His comments about blogging in particular made me think about how we are using our blogs this semester. He makes several points about the differences between writing and blogging...
"Writing stops; blogging continues. Writing is inside; blogging is outside. Writing is monologue; blogging is conversation. Writing is thesis; blogging is synthesis."
Then he gives a spectrum or continuum of different types of Weblog posts to show where posting ends and blogging starts. I know where I fall on this spectrum and it isn't where I would like to be. Where does your blogging fit?
1. Posting assignments. (Not blogging)
2. Journaling, i.e. "This is what I did today." (Not blogging)
3. Posting links. (Not blogging)
4. Links with descriptive annotation, i.e., "This site is about..." (Not really blogging either, but getting close depending on the depth of the description)
5. Links with analysis that gets into the meaning of the content being linked. (A simple form of blogging)
6. Reflective, metacognitive writing on practice without links. (Complex writing, but simple blogging, I think. Commenting would probably fall in here somewhere.)
7. Links with analysis and synthesis that articulate a deeper understanding or relationship to the content being linked and written with potential audience response in mind. (Real blogging)
8. Extended analysis and synthesis over a longer period of time that builds on previous posts, links, and comments. (Complex blogging)
Wherever we are on this continuum...let's see if we can push our blogging to higher levels.
3 comments:
Oy; that's an interjection like 'wow' or 'hey' or 'oh'. Do you recall the Scholastic Schoolhouse Rock videos of long ago? Remember the one on Grammar? It had Nouns, Adverbs, Conjunctions (Can Junction Junction, what's your function??) and Interjections. Well, I said 'Oy' because I don't really know how to interpret all you said about blogging. It's kind of, well, mind boggling. Not mind blogging, though it is also that, but mostly mind boggling. :) Maybe some clarification tomorrow in class?
Will Richardson is the reason why I am so passionate about the use of Web 2.0 in the classroom. It was his book, Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts, which opened the world of true technology for me. It should be required reading for all educators, including administrators. His description of what accounts for true blogging is helpful, as some days I write a post and think "Is this what I am suppose to be doing?". Having a goal which can be visualized is a catalyst to help me reach a state of true blogging.
I saw Will at the ACTEM conference in Augusta...he's passionate about using Web 2.0 tools with students and children of all ages. Just like using blogs, wikis, and podcasts, he focused on helping our students prepare for the future. It's difficult when we don't necessarily know what careers there will be, however, we can help our students learn how to think and learn how to be productive citizens while learning the required skills.
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