Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Is educational blogging dying??

I read a post recently on the demise of library bloggers.  It was interesting to me because my Google Reader is almost always full of 1000+ unread blog posts.  So, I sort of bristled at the thought that people weren't blogging anymore.

But, that didn't make me read the 1000+ posts - it was the end of the year, after all and I had other things to do.

Today, as I begin the first day of my summer break, I decided to hang out on twitter for a bit.

And that's when I think I got it.

I have used my Google Reader feeds as a way of keeping up with what is going on in education.  My connection has been very one-sided... I read many blogs, but rarely comment.  And therein lies the problem. I think the conversation in edtech has moved on. It isn't that static, one-sided one. We are promoting a change in teaching from the sage-on the stage to more learner participation - yet the forum of blogs doesn't really model that.

Twitter does.  I sat in awe, last night, as the edtech chat flew down my tweetdeck. I could not even keep up.  The comments and questions flew.  The discussion was lively and full.  There were plenty of people referencing blogs and websites, but it was in the context of the conversation not in isolation.

But, I still only watched. I was too overwhelmed to attempt to take part. By the time my tweet was crafted the conversation had moved on and my thought was not even on the page anymore.

That experience helps me understand that it is a process.  Both blogs and twitter have a place and a purpose. Twitter is so fleeting - the content hangs out for a while and is gone. Blogs feel more permanent, more weighty.  You can really think about what you want to say, you can edit and redo.  Twitter doesn't move that way - it is vibrant and alive.

Anyway, I know that I will stay with my blog feeds - although not in Reader much longer.

Which brings me to the next problem.
I have spent way too much time trying to figure out what to use to replace Reader. I LOVE Diigo and am having a problem finding an RSS reader for the computer that plays nicely with it.   I do like Mr. Reader for the iPad - it is slick.

For now, I will my voice will live in blogs more than twitter. That is where I feel the most comfortable with the format. But, I will watch and attempt to interact on twitter more and more.  That is my challenge for the summer!

Now back to twitter - I might have missed something in the creating of this post!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Great article.

I have been using NewsBlur since the Google announced the closure of Reader. I have been very happy with the web interface and the iOS app. Though I don't use Diigo, I know that NewsBlur supports Diigo. Give it a try.