So, although I resonate with the quote..."There was something really powerful about easily being able to share resources and ideas with a Web audience that was willing to share back what they thought about those ideas." (pg. 17) It didn't happen for me personally or for my classroom. We added a sitemeter to the page in order to track the number of hits, after the comments remained at 0
It makes me wonder...what steps do I need to take to build my audience? And, is that really the purpose of the blog we created?
I think that's something the creator of the blog needs to consider as the blog is created and added to. Is the goal of the site to interact with the wider public, the school community or the classroom? After all, there are other reasons to blog.
I think the online archive idea is really powerful. It connects students to the web in a real, concrete way. Perhaps that should be the first goal - and leave the audience building as it grows.
Personally, one of the ways I've used blogs the most is to keep up on technology and educational chatter. I follow a whole host of blogs - just sort of lurking in the background and reading the content. So - I am contributing to the whole no audience problem. Hmmm....
Now - how does this apply to my life as a librarian? I have maintained a book blog of my own reading. I hope to start a book blog of students reading. The purpose will be to make recommendations of books in the collections that other YAs may want to read.
I also hope to spur more teachers to create blogs. I want to do more research into the class portal idea. I think that would be very appealing to many teachers...
I helped the to other 4th grade teacher begin blogging - almost against her will. I am including a picture of a post on the class blog that she created...it shows how an anti-techie can be turned! :)
4 comments:
Yes, I agree, we don't necessarily get a lot of comments or deep responses. We are all learning about this method. I think sharing some of Will Richardson's ideas with our staff is a huge step we can do to move that conversation forward.
Neat example of your work with the 4th grade teacher - thanks for the link to the picture!
And I agree, we need to decide on the purpose. Who is the audience is another important question!
I really like your idea of connecting students to the web as a first goal. Perhaps once they (and I) are comfortable with that step, then they can work on connecting with others.
I always enjoy your point of view because as older Grad student I sometimes feel very disconnected to the current technology. Not coming right out of college, or coming from a district who feels technology is that important, I am struggling to catch up with the rest of my peers in this cohort. Your guidance, words of wisdom, and just general support makes everything I am doing and learning really seem worthwhile. I never realized how hard this was going to be, but I really am enjoying it once I become familiar with the technology. I only wish sometimes we would have more time to "play" to really become immersed in it.
Do you think our students will more naturally create conversations on the Web? We are threatened by it to an extent, but do you think they will be? It would be interesting to observe students interact with their own blogs.
Also, do you think adding links to our blogs would encourage interaction? Or, will adding links further distract from the blog and decrease the likelihood of comments?
Just some things to think about!!!
P.S.- Your blog looks great!!!!
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