I can honestly say that I truly have trouble consistently writing in a blog and it has nothing to do with the ease of the technology. I just don't have that yearn to electronically put myself out there. This is/has been the most challenging part of this program for me. I admit that I would not be reliable or expansive in my posts if there was not a grad behind it, just like the students in this study.
Blogging makes me miss the live classroom where ideas are crafted and shared and refined in real time. Blogging requires patience I don't have. I also think it requires the nerve to put yourself out into the big world of strangers without the ability to control who sees it and what kind of response you might get.
I also wonder how much of my reluctence can be attributed to my generation and personal immediate influences, none of which are at all computer savy. I still have friends and family that dont have email or internet access.
In reading this article, I really found myself thinking most about myself and blogging and very little about using a blog as an instructor. I think I might be a bit in the minority in my aversion to blogging, and that I should really consider it seriously as a way to get my students to interact.
Corporate environments I have been a part of are not very open to the blog... too much freedom of opionion and chance for negative attitudes to spread. Rightfully so, as it is always the crankiest employees that participate in any opportunity to sound off. That is a whole other bunch of bananas though...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
You said that creating a blog requires nerve. I agree, however I find it easier to make a comment in class when I have time to think about my response and actually form the idea I have into words. It makes me more nervous to sit in a classroom and have the teacher randomly call on me.
Oh Jessica - if you think it is generational then there is no hope for me! :-) I'm a bit older! (and probably overly sensitive to my age as I just started another year of over over fortiness). I'm a newbie to all the technology too. But, I'm enjoying it. Did you ever keep a journal? Blogging reminds me a little bit of that - only journalling with a focus- on education, or what we're thinking about while we're learning.
I know what you mean about blogging in corporate culture. I too am in Financial Services (not an innovative industry) but we just switched to wikis for knowledgement and I have a feeling that blogs and social pages/directories are not far off.
Check out what IBM is having it's people do: http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/
They are also pushing social networking into the workplace
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2007/tc20070122_532199.htm
It's a brave new world. Be strong, be brave and keep jumping in! Looking forward to hearing more from you soon.
You may have seen the first couple of blogs that I posted. I pretty much vented and whined about the new technology.
Am I a big fan of it? Not really. I miss the face-to-face interaction with my fellow classmates. But, I can see the value in it, given that the majority of my students have been raised on and are comfortable with the newer technologies.
And I absolutely abhor the fact that an idea can be expressed and there's no comment or reaction to it, for days, if ever. At least in a F2F class, a person can agree, disagree or say shut the heck up!
In the intelligence community in which I work, the majority of people are reluctant to use wikis and blogs, mostly because there is no 'oversight' of the input and they don't trust it.
Hang in there...I've been told that a couple of times in this class and it actually helps!
Jessica I like to talk. As you know from the many interactions that we have had in the multiple groups that we have worked in together. I too do not like to blog and I do it because I feel that I have too. I cannot deny that people can learn from it but I struggle because I like to see and hear people.
I have never been very strong in communication of the written form. So maybe that is my true aversion, or maybe it is the fear of being ridiculed in the comments. I think blogging is still in its infancy and people tend to overlook issues like grammar and such. But the day will come soon enough that mistakes will matter.
No matter I will continue to blog and put myself out there for now only because it is required. Maybe over the next year my thoughts will change. I hope they do.
I guess I'm in a different category than most here. I have always found that I function best when I sit down and write. I started blogging years ago. My personal blog is a method of organization for me. It is a centralized place to keep my thoughts, feeling and experiences. I guess I don't have a problem putting things out there. Audience and comments make a big difference. My blog was a featured blog for a few month a year or so ago and I felt obligated to write everyday, so my same post wasn't on the page for days on end. Once I wasn't featured anymore, my blogging became less structured. Now I blog when I feel the need to. All that being said, I have trouble blogging for class. I think this is mainly due to the fact that I "have" to blog once a week at least and the pressure makes it harder to formulate my thoughts. Or maybe it's because it has to be focused around what we are learning in class, or I feel like it does, and my thoughts aren't always centered in that direction.
Post a Comment