Updated: 7/7/06; 6:29:18 PM.
Connectivity: Spike Hall's RU Weblog
News, clips, comments on knowledge, knowledge-making, education, weblogging, philosophy, systems and ecology.
        

 Thursday, January 30, 2003

In the last couple of days I have shared my excitement over educational wikis and weblogs/klogs in education . Now for a mixture of idealism and cautionary social commentary. (I am still excited; look, for example at the quoted commentary --bottom of this entry-- from weblogg-ed.)

Can Edubloggers facilitate the Maturation of Education? Maturation implies to me a movement away from being an bureaucratic, and relatively ineffective, artifact to a potent and nurturing force in individual and group existence,

For the sake of clarity, here's my view of an Utopian Educational Goal:

Education has been shown to be effective in a deep sense; i.e., educators are repeatedly and enduringly effective in aiding each person to be in contact with self (actual and potential, alone and as a part of social and spiritual wholes) and the most powerful and necessary Idea for Becoming at this given moment in her/his existence.

By working with a the full cross-section of educators, probably one system at a time, edubloggers empower the problem-solving of all educators and schools as they work to make worthy dreams real. With the edublogger(s) giving access to other struggles and a universe of experience and ideas, educators transform themselves and then catalyze the reformation of the institutions that will house their marvelous Idea Shoppes.

I worry that without some ultimate end firmly in hand and mind, those interested in edublogging etc. will preach to the converted (each other), spend much time developing the technology, get marginalized in some kind of tech-heaven subsystem of either a large corporate entity intent only on maximizing profits regardless of utopian relevance or, worse, roaming in the bowels of a bureacracy whose central purpose is cover-your-ass and "make a rule and document it". Edublogging will be potent positive force for change when and if we engineer its insertion into a broad array of social institutions.

Edublogger Wiki?. "Terry" throws out the idea of a Wiki for Edublogging which on it's surface sounds like a pretty interesting idea as opposed to the traditional book format, digital or otherwise. It goes back to that old idea of a collaborative site for all of us, whether it's a discussion board or a Web log. Dunno if anyone else "sees" this with me, but I keep thinking an Edublogging portal designed as a resource for teachers interested in learning about what this stuff is and how to do it. A site where they can benefit from our shared experiences and contribute ideas, ask questions, get support etc. The core group could start it and maintain/edit it, but it could build into more...I guess like an online edblogging magazine? Something like this maybe? [weblogged News]

For those of us curious how a weblog-based college class might run I offer you two sites for your inspection: Sara Kerwin's and Barbara Ganley's.

Sara's site [coming via weblogged News] . As you check out their class processes and sequences, via their weblogs, you'll see that much otherwise inaccessible student thought and commitment is possible . This seems to be an obvious pay-off at least among the early adopters like Sara and Barbar.

Media Class Web Log. (via "Sarah") This is one of the better running class Web logs that's out there I think, one that I would like to emulate in many ways. Kara Kerwin has done some real interesting thinking about how to make a course Web site not only interesting to look at but easy to navigate and genuinely informative, too. The whole site is worth a look. But the Web log does some particularly interesting things in terms of asing questions for credit with cut off dates for responses. (For some reason, I like to read the responses in chronological order, however.) She keys her questions to readings or news so as to provide relevancy to the class. I'm interested to in the way she is working through assessing student work in the Web log. (At some point, that may be an interesting strand to start on the Edublogger Board.) I've found so far that I assess Web log discussion responses first by whether or not they are there, and second by the depth of the response. A 1-5 scale seems logical. But as with anything new, I struggle with how much to make it worth.

Also, there is Barbara Ganley's site Artswriting. Artswriting was conducted last semester at Middlebury College (VT) . Here you will see the integration of student weblogs, syllabus , static web site links, threaded discussions and inter- school (plus inter-state) collaborative activites. An ambitious undertaking!

Here are snippets from B. Ganley's summary at semester's end:

This semester-long installment of the Artswriting weblog has come to a close with the end of exams and winter break. Final projects are, for the most part, posted (a couple of multi-media projects need to have their teasers embedded--I'll keep you up to date on their progress) and represent the stunning range of interests and creative output of this group of students. We have Mike's poems and ink paintings as well as his exhibition catalogue entries on the three contemporary Chinese painters we got to know through his work these past months; Gillian's exploration of the healing powers of music; Lia's close look at Vermont painters of the landscape; Megan's issue of a web fashion 'zine; Alexis's examination of the hand in photography; Shafiq's discussion of Dali's use of the Venus de Milo. Projects with missing web pieces soon to join the group: Catherine's film of backstage/onstage relationships in a high school musical production; Katy's film portrait of her piano instructor; Kate's virtual tour of Middlebury's public sculture, Melissa's slam poetry multi-media extravaganza; and Aaron's comparative study of art and action films.

Feedback from just about everyone on the use of the weblog enthusiastically embraces the weblog for providing a connective tissue in the course and allowing [students] a forum in the world. They felt emboldened to explore less familiar arts and kinds of writing about art because of the fluid, flexible nature of the weblog and the models they had of work students had completed last spring. Above all, they felt that the work mattered because it was read by the entire class and others out in the world. The weblog works.

Now comes a fallow period--January term and then spring when this course will be dormant and thus, I bet, the weblog will exist in susoended animation. How fresh, then, will it be when work here is resumed? What changes will have occurred in the weblogging world--what developments? How will we use film and image, word and message? I am eager to see the next iteration of WP 200.

[Barbara finishes with thanks to an widely dispersed list of collaborators--including a Chicago Art Gallery owner and multiple educators in several disciplines and from at least one other state.]


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Spike Hall is an Emeritus Professor of Education and Special Education at Drake University. He teaches most of his classes online. He writes in Des Moines, Iowa.


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