Consider what a student can create with a weblog in terms of research. A central clearinghouse for all ideas relevant to a particular subject. An audience for filtering that information into what is most important and relevant. A metacognitive thought log of the hows and whys of collection and selection of the materials that get included. To publicize these sites raises the stakes, increases responsibility (which is the other incredibly wonderful thing about the Internet...instant publishing and exposure). Think of the applications for expository writing, where teachers can follow the research.
>> Will is again very close to my own thinking. "A metacognitive thought log" is an excellent description of what can also be achieved with a personal Webpublishing tool in an educational context (and no, I am not only talking about the institutionalized forms of education here). I believe, we could and should also talk aobut potentials for alternative assessment approaches in this area.
7:12:21 PM 
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Manila offers the same kind of easy content management, and has many of the same features as Blogger and Radio. Manila also offers an integrated discussion tool - discussion tied directly to the content - that feeds the automatic archiving of materials. Manila's editorial functions set it apart from the other tools. Creative use of the editorial functions can foster an interesting collaborative environment. Users have minute control over the look and feel of the site. There is a little more set-up on the front end, depending on how much you want to customize your site...
>> Sarah talks about her experiences with current weblog tools. Yeah, I know that this has been done by others before but Sarah works within the context of school and education...
6:20:15 PM
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Teachers at every level from elementary school to MBA are trying to bring blogs into their classrooms. They're finding the most success when they use the blog as a "classroom management tool" --- a way to broadcast homework assignments, keep parents informed, and provide links to research materials, said Sarah Lohnes, an educational technology specialist at Middlebury College in Vermont.
But efforts to get students to participate in classroom blogs have, for the most part, fallen flat.
>> Now, this is an important issue. Why is it so hard to foster students' participation in these kind of endeavors? What type of support and infrastructure would students need? How could facilitators be supported?... I believe that tentative answers to these questions are far more interesting than the latest feature of a new weblog tool. But hell, this is my bias ... nothing more and nothing less...
5:51:30 PM
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I'm getting more than a little ready to stop talking about blogs, by the way. Or at least do away with the term. I know blogs haven't even begun to hit the mass market; but the hype-engine is in full swing; forcing conversations about blogs to be about the formats, toolsets, how to write to attract attention, etc. The conversation that we should be having would be driven by what is really revolutionary; the rise of inexpensive, real-time, distributed cross-demographic/geographic/politic conversations that are not ephemeral, and thanks to Google's weighting mechanisms, inherently populist. Continuing to discuss "what is a blog" in technical terms makes the whole thing feel like CB radio.
>> I share Jonathan Peterson's view on this issue. We might be better of by talking about dynamic Web publishing, personal content management, etc. and explore these technologies in various kind of ways. "What is a blog?" is an inappropriate question from my point of view. We should rather explore how we can use dynamic Webpublishing tools in various contexts. There is no need to jump into a pseudo-scientific game of definition crafting at this point in time. Let's try out as many different things as we can imagine, share our experiences, and possibly team up with people who work in similar contexts on similar problems.
4:31:48 PM
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[Neu in meiner Bibliothek]: Running Weblogs with Slash bringt alles, aber auch wirklich alles über Slash, der Software, mit der Slashdot läuft. Von der Installation bis zum Code-Hacken steht alles drin. Vielleicht ist Slash das Tool für den zur Zeit leider etwas brachliegenden Rollberg? Werde jetzt erst einmal das Buch in Ruhe lesen und dann testen, ob die Voraussetzungen dafür bei Strato vorhanden sind. Kann jedenfalls jetzt schon eine Empfehlung für den Titel aussprechen.
>> Der Schockwellenreiter testet weiterhin unermüdlich Weblogging Software... während ich immer noch versuche mit Manila und Radio glücklich zu werden. Warum gibt es eigentlich keine neueren Bücher über Frontier?
2:49:38 PM
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© Copyright 2003 Sebastian Fiedler.
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