Blogging Blues

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To blog or not to blog

Having been “wary” of blogging for a long time, I think I am finally gaining some clarity about the reason for my hesitance—there seems to be no clear purpose for many bloggers. Without teachers and students establishing clarity of purpose, the term blog in the 2.0 world risks becoming synonymous with the traditional “free writing” or “report.” Such writing tasks have long been the bane of students’ and teachers’ lives. Why? Such writings were either regurgitation with no original ideas or streams of consciousness with no organization, original voice, or clarity of thought.

What is a red flag that 21st century “blog” risks replacing the 20th century “report” as an overused, undefined catch all for getting kids to write? As one colleague mentioned recently, when you bring up “blogs” or “blogging”, the kids groan. Much like the traditional “report,” are teachers now over-using this writing vehicle with no clear purpose all in the name of tech integration?

So what exactly is a blog?

In his book, (Corwin Press, 2006), Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful WebTools for Classrooms, Will Richardson offers me some much welcomed clarity:

“If we take a look at the spectrum of different types of Weblog posts, we can start to see where posting ends and blogging as an academic exercise begins:
1. Posting assignments. (Not blogging)
2. Journaling, . . . (Not blogging)
3. Posting links. (Not blogging)
4. Links with descriptive annotation, i.e., “This site is about . . .” (Not really blogging either, but getting close depending on the depth of the description)
5. Links with analysis that gets into the meaning of the content being linked. (A simple form of blogging)
6. Reflective, metacognitive writing on practice without links. (Complex writing, but simple blogging, I think. Commenting would probably fall in here somewhere.)
7. Links with analysis and synthesis that articulate a deeper understanding or relationship to the content being linked and written with potential audience response in mind. (Real blogging)
8. Extended analysis and synthesis over a longer period of time that builds on previous posts, links, and comments. (Complex blogging)"

Richardson then goes on to give concrete ideas to educators of how to scaffold blogging for different ages.

A Call to Educators

Let’s help stem the information overload and help students become effective, motivated thinkers by establishing clarity of purpose if and when blogs are used within an educational setting. Would this not be more likely lead to an authentic, empowering, and collaborative audience for students?

As teachers, let’s follow the pedagogically grounded 2.0 teacher, Clarence Fisher, when he says that blogging in the classroom is to express informed opinions once you’ve built some understanding around a particular topic (paraphrased from a guest presentation to our first course in a certificate of Information Literacy and educational technology course at the International School Bangkok.) I suspect that is why he feels he’s now having more success than his earlier blog forays.

Therefore, could we agree not to assign “blogs” without guidance as to the expectations (i.e. original opinions) and clarity of purpose (i.e. reflect and grow new ideas) so that your students’ blogs don’t simply become a hoop-jumping activity. Can we also agree to assess students on the quality and originality of their thinking rather than the number of blog posts or amount of regurgitation?

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