While I have created a blog for an undergraduate class, as
well as a Wiki for a graduate course, I am relatively green when it comes to
blogging. The very notion that your thoughts/words are visible on the web, and
to anyone, makes me a bit leery. I guess I am from the old school train of thought
of “who cares about your personal thoughts”. I am among those who ask, “why the
heck do I need to tweet or blog?” I guess I am just in that age bracket of
those who just don’t have an interest in blogging – “Young Boomers”, according
to Zickuhr (2010) – see image.
However, there is no denying there are definite benefits of
blogging over discussion boards, although I strongly prefer the discussion
board and the privacy it provides. Among those advantages are those noted by
Carter, in King and Cox (2011), such as the ability of educators to create
virtual learning environments where learners can become collaborators, creators
and community builders (p. 89).
Despite what Carter purports, “the ability for readers to
comment on posted entries, which are dated” is not a “distinctive feature of
the blog” (p. 90). Perhaps that was once true, but today’s discussion boards
also allow this same functionality – unless I’m missing something here? I agree
that a unique feature of blogging is the ability to “connect to other Web sites
in hyperlinks, resulting in an interactive publishing space linking resources
as well as authors to permit easy sharing of information” (p. 90). This is the biggest advantage of blogging
versus discussion boards – the level of interactivity and collaboration.
This week’s supplemental readings also support the merit of
blogging, especially with younger age brackets. Today’s youngsters have grown
up with computers and are adept at blogging (Facebook, Twitter, etc) and it
only seems natural to engage them on their level of interest (Witte, 2007). Santos (2011) discussed
the engagement model, which seems to tie in perfectly with the use of blogging
in the classroom. Through blogging, students utilize the three engagement
theory concepts of “Relate-Create-Donate” (p. 16). Hopefully at the end of this
class, I’ll have a greater appreciation of blogging…we’ll see??
References:
King, K. & Cox, T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC:
Information Age Publishing.
Santos,
A. (2011). Blogs as a learning space: creating text of talks. Contemporary
Issues in Education Research, 4(6), 15-19.
Witte, S. (2007). That's online writing, not boring
school writing: Writing with blogs and the Talkback Project. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(2), 92-96.
Zickhrh, K. (2010). Generations Online in 2010. Retrieved
from http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Generations-2010/Overview/Findings.aspx
Sonora,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog and I concur with several of your thoughts. Like you, I don't think the world is interested in my every thought or action. In addition, I don't have enough exciting things to warrant a daily post to a blog. However, I do find value in the blog for educational pursuits.
I have participated in a blog effort. Years ago, several of my friends decided to meet in DC to run the Army Ten Miler. Since our group lived all over the world, we decided to create a blog to share our training efforts. It was a great way for us to support each other and stay accountable to our fitness goals.
Several have mentioned a concern with privacy, but I think the benefits outweigh the risk. I am thinking about Santos's (2011) reference to engagement theory and the potential for transformative learning. We know that learning of this kind can create strong feelings that students may resist in a public forum. Although our message board is private from web trollers, it is still open to all of our classmates, so still requires one to be exposed. An instructor could work with students to come up with pseudonyms for students so that they could express themselves with a bit of anonymity. That may ease the feeling of risk for some. In addition, there are other blog services that offer more privacy options or forums that are strictly educational to deter the uninterested. http://edublogs.org/ may appeal to you.
I am not sure I will ever adopt a blog for personal use, but I see great potential within education.
King, K. & Cox, T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Santos, A. (2011). Blogs as a learning space: creating text of talks. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 4(6), 15-19.
Greetings, Sonora! I enjoyed your first "blogging" exercise~you did a great job! I found value in many of the statements you made regarding your every thought and the interest or lack of related to your blogging efforts (I can relate!!) Several of the reasons you mentioned in your blog related to "every thought" or whim, is why I have distanced myself from Facebook. Although I took the option off my iPhone (and felt an amazing relief!) I still check the social networking site from time-to-time on my iPad and Kindle Fire. I have found it to be very time consuming and difficult to actually delete your account from FB...almost like the song "Hotel California". Remember?? You can enter, but you can never leave! :) I am showing my age!
ReplyDeleteI especially enjoyed your graphic and link to the article you mentioned in your blog. Very impressive, by the way! I was enthralled as the authors described how the use of technology is spread or accessed by the varying generations. I found of particular value the explosion of social networking sites by the "older generation" of 74+. I suspect this is due to FB and even Twitter that allows for the grandparents/great grandparents to stay "connected" with the "yougens" when separated by miles or even schedules. What an amazing tool! Many of the older generation that I am contact with, are using FB on a regular basis to stay in touch with family, especially those precious grandchildren! Thank you for the outside information~it is noted and appreciated. I might even have to use the link in some of my own future presentations, outside of class.
Keep up the great work! I am inspired...
Alicia
Hi Sonora!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the informative content. I especially enjoyed the chart for generational comparison. I fall in the Generation X category and was intrigued by the similarities and differences in the ways we use technology. It is easy to take for granted the way things are as though they have always been this way.
The other day, I was explaining to my seven-year-old how to use a rotary telephone. When I was her age, nearly everyone I knew had at least one in their homes. Now they are relics!
It's also incredible to note that I remember my first online purchase in 1997. I was nervous that it wouldn't show up, or that the product didn't even exist. Now I buy online at least monthly. The same holds true for banking. I was nervous at first about using the internet for banking transactions, but with us moving around the globe so often it was the only system of continuity. Now I cannot imagine NOT being able to deposit checks from home and having to mail them to our bank.
This is a bit tangential, but the point is similar. I believe blogging will make me uncomfortable or nervouse at first, but soon I will wonder how I ever lived without it. It is like other technological advances though - some people prefer not to use the forum while others cannot imagine their lives without it. I really don't think the same can be said for discussion boards. Although I understand your preference for the discussion board, I think you will find that blogging allows your more authentic voice to shine through.
This is your first blog and I already see more of "you" in your post than I did in all of the previous discussion board comments. It is very nice to know you!
Sonora,
ReplyDeleteI am also among those who ask, “why do I need to tweet or blog?” The image you included was very helpful in looking at the different generations; I am a visual learner, so thank you for that. It was interesting to see that blogging was pretty much in the same position for all the age groups (and this is a recent chart). It looks like blogging and virtual worlds (I was introduced to them in another graduate class) are at the bottom of the usage charts for everyone. I believe that will start to change very soon as more and more people accept (especially with classes like this one) that it is more useful then just a platform for sharing your thoughts. I believe you are very correct when you mentioned interactivity and collaboration as an advantage of blogging; especially with how adults are “situating their learning in the context of life experiences” (King and Cox, 2011).
Sonora good blog. I like how you incorporated the graphics, very advanced:)
ReplyDeleteI am not sure the emoticons are very academic but what the heck, it is a more creative environment.
For the generational evidence I have to disagree. From my past experience with trying to launch a social media application (Saba Social) to try and do "horizontal networking" across various divisions and branches (read between Army, RCN, and RCAF) but all within the Training Development field, the data did not back-up a consistent acceptance of technology that corresponded to an age group or generation. It has been a while since I read David Footes book Boom, Bust and Echo, but from what I recall you can use hard data to make predictions about general group socio-economic outlooks but to actually ascribe specific behavioural patterns to a group/generation is riskier. It seemed me, from the Social Media event, those who were technologically inclined used it while others stubbornly clung to email or the telephone.
Sonora,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the informative blog. I agree with you that I prefer discussion boards for academic work, the security and safety of LMS. But, I am attempting to grow to appreciate blogging. We will see how we feel about this whole blogging experience in a few weeks.