Live and let learn

“If I had never heard of blogs before, what would be the top 5 reasons that you would give me to start blogging as an educator?” - I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately while browsing Will’s Why Weblogs and the comments on Nancy’s Why we blog with our classes… and thought I’d put together my own top reasons for a short (10 minute) discussion tomorrow… if you’ve got any feedback, I’d love to hear it!

“Weblogs ….. are redefining the way students and teachers use the Internet, turning them from mere readers into writers to the Web as well… In fast-growing numbers, educators across the country and throughout the world are finding just how powerful this new interactive Internet can be.” (InfoToday Jan 04)

1. Your own professional development as an Educator

I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly hearing that I need to be working on my own professional development and my technical currency - providing evidence to be signed off that I’m participating in professional development activities. Why not have fun while doing so and extend your audience of 1 (your “line-manager”) to anyone else out there who’s keen to learn with you? (for e.g., see Teaching Web Design Part II)

2. A complimentary way to communicate with and engage your learners

At their simplest, Weblogs are a like an email that is published on the web, allowing others to read and comment. At first this is pretty daunting (and there are some issues that would be good to think through as you start), but the benefits are huge:

• Students can see what’s happening in class even if they are not able to attend (and if you link to some great free resources on the net, they don’t have to miss out!). They can even take part by commenting on the thought-provoking questions that you’ve posted.
• It’s automatically archived there so learners can come back to review the questions that you’ve asked, or discussions that you’ve prompted, even after they have completed the course. And next year when you come to the same topic, you can build on the post from last semester.
• You are demonstrating how, as a professional, you are continuing to build your own learning network, interacting with current issues in your own professional field, interacting with the thoughts of other professionals in your field, and most importantly, linking your current learners into this professional network (for e.g., see the DesignWebsites blog)

3. Encouraging your learners to learn beyond the course

Beyond the course both in content and duration! As you develop your own skills using a blog for learning, your learners may be encouraged to join the network and start contributing themselves (lessening the dependence on you - the “teacher” - providing the content!)

If, by the end of a course, learners are used to learning from other professionals out there in the industry and are reflecting on their own learning experiences (blogs provide a great flexible way to do this but are not the only way!), then they are much better prepared for lifelong learning.

If you’ve got other ideas, please let me know!