Tuesday, February 23, 2010

What is right with the educational blogosphere?

You knew it was coming so here are the positives of educational blogging in a Letterman-type top 10 list.

10. You learn about what is going on in K-12 and higher ed classrooms right now.
9. You find new tools to share with your classes.
8. You read other people's opinions about education topics.
7. You read other people's descriptions of projects they are doing with their classes.
6. You discover other educators who think like you do.
5. You discover other educators who DON'T think like you do.
4. You begin to comment on posts and get feedback from the author and other readers.
3. You start to ask questions of the authors and get an answer.
2. You find new tools, games,and sites to play around with.
1. You start to blog more because you find that you DO have something important to say about education.

The things that I really get from my reading on the edublogosphere include a better understanding of all different kinds of schools--public, private, charter, international; a broader sense of what educational technology is and how to get teachers to take it to their students; and a sense of the richness of projects being done around the world with students just like mine. I still don't understand my colleagues in technology who don't read blogs or use Google Reader or any other aggregator. I find that I miss my blogs if a few days go by without me checking my Google Reader feed.

So, my new quest will be how to get more of my colleagues subscribing, commenting, and posting to the educational blogosphere. What can I do to be their mentor?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Laurie!

Great to find your blog. I especially felt like reasons #5, #3, and #1 are what I'm embarking on the blogging journey for.

My question for you, though, is this: how long do you think it will take before more educators jump into the fray? Do you think the blogosphere is overloaded already for those who are new at it, as I am finding? What are your suggestions for new bloggers?

Thanks, and added your blog to my reader,

--Mike