If not Blogs...... Then What?

There is little doubt that blogging is not an edcuational panacea. Blogging alone will not bring all of our schools, classrooms, and children up to a level of international educational competitiveness. Blogging will not inspire our kids, develop them into a nation of readers of writers, or automatically make them more reflective, thought - full, or in love with learning and schools. Blogs will not make teachers into superheroes, or make us more attractive and caring individuals.

But if not blogs..... What?

Certainly blogging is not for all kids. I have kids in my class who only write because they have to. Even at that, each week I have kids who have not written their required minimum of two posts / week.  Blogs have not transformed us into a classroom of dedicated, all - night writers who rush to the computer at every free moment of our day to make intelligent contact with a wide - ranging, involved, international network of likewise dedicated students. But they have set us upon a path that is leading us towards a new vision of networked, reflective, learning spaces. 

Blogs are not for all kids and they are not going to change the lives of all kids; but if we don't blog and explore the power of this medium, what other tool can we use in its palce? What other teaching tool allows us to easily and instantly publish the thinking of our students in a networked, global environment? It comes back to what we use blogs for. If blogs are  simply journals for kids to write their thoughts about their day, it might as well be on a piece of paper that only they read. But if they are meant to be reflective, learning spaces where kids can make conact with the learning of other people, and take place in the devloping global conversation, what else is there but blogs?

Blogs have the potential to change whose voices we get to hear. Blogs have the potential to change where, when, and how learning happens. They are not a perfect tool, but have we ever seen a perfect learning tool that works with equal effectiveness for all of our kids? In our classrooms, we work with the tools we have, learning to capitialize on their power and use them as best we can for all of our kids.

if we want to look at the role of learning and classrooms in our society in new ways, we must comtinue to examine using blogs as a learning tool in a serious light.

technorati tags: blogging, classrooms, learning, networks,

Comments

[Fran Castiello]

Your blog for today makes me think more about this technology tool. This week I happen to be doing PD on blogging and while I'm showing the teachers what it is and how it works, I'm also thinking about how this tool might not be for every teacher. If teachers are too fearful, too relectant, too locked into their other successful strategies, they may not be open to this tool and therefore are not ready to use this. I am uncomfortable selling the product (blogging), when their hesitency and lack of enthusiasm and even apathy might interfere with the strength it might have in the classroom.

[Miguel Guhlin]

Thanks for your honesty. Teachers are the technology.

Miguel Guhlin
http://www.mguhlin.net/blog