Technology Infused Learning and Teaching

The assignment? Write a reflective blog post telling about one item of interest from your reader. One? Just one? I’m going to cheat a bit here since I’ve been using an RSS reader for about a year now (or just over) and dig deep back into one of the blog posts that I had starred in my Google Reader. After all, isn’t that what the star is there for but to help me dig into my older posts for the gems?

The one post I chose is from the Injenuity blog by Jennifer Jones (known as injenuity on most networks). Her post is about the concept of Viral Professional Development, a topic that really hit home with me given my own personal struggles with providing professional learning opportunities in my own district. As the “lone” instructional technologist for a school system with 12,500 students and growing, I find it disconcerting that I cannot make more of a difference and at times I wonder what kind of impact I can make (if any) in my role. When I read Jen’s blog post though, she made so much sense and I was able to breathe a little better. I ended up commenting on her post, which you can read by scrolling down her page, but I’ll reiterate here a couple of key pieces that truly resonated with me.

First of all was this:

“but I have found a strategy that is working well and keeping pace with my goals, expectations and work load”

That for me was huge and I still struggle with it. I want to do so much, but given my own personal pace, distractions at work, and work load it is difficult to stick to it.

The second was this:

“Just let it go.”

That’s a huge pill to swallow. To simply let something go is a frightening prospect for me, but that is exactly what I’ve had to do. Focus on what I can do and let the rest coast. Just breathe!

Image Source: Flickr Szlea

I have been reading blogs on a regular basis for just over a year now, but I have never really analyzed or made comparisons about them to more traditional publications before. Below are my thoughts about the reading and writing of blogs.

* What do you notice about the genre of blog writing in general?

There is not a right or a wrong way to blog and styles of blogging strongly vary from writer to writer. Some writers are more verbose than others and their posts read more like short chapters from a book, while others appear to favor short bursts of relevant, timely information. Some writers are more philosophical while other bloggers stay more on the surface. Some blog to get reactions whereas some blog as more of a public service to dispense information. Blogging fits the needs of the writer, no matter who they are. It is a very flexible medium of communication.

* (How) is blog reading different from other types of reading? How is it similar?

There is something to be said for being able to curl up with your reading material. If you have a laptop, you can get “close” to that feeling. A desktop? Forget it. Granted, if you have a web-enabled portable device, that makes blog reading more portable, but if you don’t, then you are most definitely tied to the computer to read your blogs, which at times I have found a bit disconcerting, not to mention uncomfortable. When I see my unread blog posts in my feeder reach the number of 100+, my eye begins to twitch a bit. I’m the type that I tend to try and set aside time to read or at least skim posts in Google Reader. Unfortunately, when I’m busy, that time tends to become less frequent leading to a huge amount of posts that go unread. I tackle them as best I can, but find my neck and shoulders aching afterwards from being hunched over my computer. My fault, I know, but this is a huge difference from reading traditional print materials.

It’s similar in that, blog posts remind me of the editorial or special interest columns in newspapers; short, easy to read, informative, and sometimes controversial. I love that kind of variety because there is always something new that I can read in either format.

* (How) is blog writing different from other types of writing? How is it similar?

Blog writing is different from other types in that it can happen anytime and anywhere. Blog writing can happen at the moment an event is happening (live blogging) or a post can be written over a period of time before being posted, allowing the author time to reflect. The most important difference is that it’s instantaneous publishing. There is no editing loop for the writer to jump through. Simply write, save, and publish. That’s a hugely powerful tool when you come to think about how easily it is for anyone to become a published writer these days.

Writing to a blog also gives the author the potential for a much broader audience than traditional publications and the ability to receive immediate feedback. Anyone can reply to an article they read in the newspaper, but what are they chances that their response will be posted? The two-way communication that blogs facilitate cannot be duplicated in the traditional print publications.

Writers of blogs and those who publish in more traditional formats can both expect replies or comments to their writing, however the potential for meaningful conversations to take place regarding a post is reserved only for blogs. Traditional print formats are more like Web 1.0 where readers are the consumers leaving them little to no ability for feedback.

* How does commenting contribute to the writing and meaning-making?

Commenting allows the author of the post to their topic from other perspectives. It give the writer the opportunity to engage others in conversation about a topic that means something to them both. I have seen many blog posts where the comments as a result have contributed as much to what I have learned from the blog post, if not more. There are even times when comments to a post have inspired others to blog – reactionary posts. The potential to extend the topic, provide alternate views, and create conversations makes blogging an incredible medium for self-expression.

* Is there a “blogging literacy?” How does blogging affect the way we read and write?

I’m not sure that there is a “blogging literacy”, but I do feel that writing for a blog is unlike writing for any kind of medium that I have in the past. I feel that constructing a blog post is more conversational and definitely opinion driven. That is something that I always keep in mind when reading blogs – that what I’m reading is the result of someone’s opinion. Certainly there are experts out there who blog, but the fact that anyone can blog needs to be a nugget of information that we keep in the back of our minds when assessing anything we read, especially blogs. Have I found some incredible information from blogs? Yes, but I also look carefully at the source, any documentation that they might offer up and also follow that with independent research of my own.

* (How) can blogging facilitate learning?

Blogging can facilitate learning for both the writer and the reader. As a reader of blogs, I can learn much from a blog post and depending on the resulting comments, from those as well. As I have stated previously, there have been quite a few blogs posts where the comments were just as informative as the post itself. The comment feature of the blog helps to facilitate learning in that it demands thoughtful reflection. The more well crafted the comment, the more I, as a reader or author of the post, can learn and grow from the interaction.

For the writer, responding to comments is kind of like the ongoing “p.s” to a letter. The conversations resulting from the comments can spring board into other topics resulting in responsive blog posts. Some great blog posts are like the pebble that is thrown into the lake, disturbing the clear surface of the water and sending out resulting waves. I find it fascinating to read one blog post that was inspired by a comment from a different blog post. It’s a treasure hunt to find the original post, read it and its comments and then follow the ripples from there.

Image Source: Flickr Pdam2

As I was watching and listening to the Voicethread on 7 1/2 Habits of Effective Lifelong Learners there were a few of the habits that truly resonated with me to the point that I found myself nodding in agreement. It was a nice self-affirmation as well to see a few habits that I could readily identify with. However, the one that brought a smile to my face was Habit 7 1/2 : Play.

In my field, this is the most favorite part of my job, but the one I have the least amount of time to do. I love playing with new technologies and figuring out how they work. That element of discovery makes me feel like a kid with a new toy. When my co-workers find me hunched over my keyboard with my eyes glued to the screen, they know I’ve become engrossed in a new tool that they’ll likely hear about soon.

Another that resonated with me was Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox. Every day, in my field, seems to be a learning experience and I constantly find myself digging into my toolbox to find answers to issues that I encounter or to questions a teacher might email to me. My toolbox is comprised of a variety of sources from my social bookmarking community to my colleagues that I lean on in my other social networks.

Habit 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner. This particular habit will be my “challenge”. I struggle with having confidence in myself at times when it comes to redelivering or sharing the knowledge that I have acquired. I tend to second guess myself and wonder if I truly have a solid grasp on a concept or tool when it comes time to teaching it. This is an aspect of myself as learner that I will need to work on so that I can have more confidence in myself as a presenter.

Habit 1: Begin with the end in mind, will be the most important for me as I work through this course because it is my plan to redeliver this in my district. For me, I not only look at this course as a learner, but I will also be wearing my professional development “hat” to analyze the course, how I can implement it in my district, what do I need to add, change, edit, embellish? It will be important for me to think of my teachers and how they might approach this course so I can ensure it is manageable and meaningful for our school system. Luckily, I have found that a couple of the teacher in my district are already taking this course, so I plan on getting feedback from them as we go along.

Image Credit: I’m Your Pusher on Flickr