Tuesday, July 01, 2003

Why a blog is not another type of community bulletin board. Several in the audience of the ILAW conference thought blogs were nothing but another community bulletin board.  Another said she didn't need another box of information to wade through.  Winer notes this link that answers a lot of those statements. Microdoc News: "You may be ignored, linked to, ranted at, but nevertheless, you can have your say on your own weblog and continue to be a member of the blogosphere." [Scripting News] comment [] 10:43:40 AM

Conference Blogging   As I mentioned before, we have a crew of educators in Seattle attending the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in Seattle this week.  A grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) assisted us in taking pre-service and in-service teachers, along with faculty from colleges of education to the conference.  One of the activities required of the participants is that they contribute to a weblog recounting their thoughts and experiences.   The participant’s entries into the blog are fun to read and packed full of information.  The insertion of links to websites, committed to the blog on the day of discovery, preserves mental notes to follow-up when they return to Georgia.  And, I see various conversations forming as participants discuss their personal experiences in the seminars and convention floor.   Sending experienced edublogger like Anne Davis is helping the crew assimilate the blog easier (even though I am not there – I can see where Anne is helping).  Tim Merritt is there (he manages the Manila server for everyone and is an avid blogger) and is noting what he sees.   The NECC weblog has drawn the interest of not only NSF, but International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) as well.  I think that weblogs can serve to extend and enhance the conference experience by continuing the conversations (a tip to Cluetrain) that are initiated at the conference.  There is a real value proposition in using weblogs this way.   Meanwhile, in Palo Alto, I am attending the Ilaw conference at Stanford.  A number of veteran bloggers (Wentworth does roll call) are in attendance and tending to their craft.  Particulary appropriate to our interest in weblogs and conference the noted blogger Donna Wentworth is busy blogging her third Ilaw conference ( 2002).  Her conference blogging receives numerous mentions in the blogging world and a review of her past conference blogging efforts is both rewarding and intellectually stimulating.    I think blogging a conference is important in the following ways:   Linking to and acknowledging the efforts of others who blog adds to the value proposition.   If you tire of writing notes, or your listening skills fade, or that darn fly just won’t leave you alone, another blogger picks up the slack.   Perceptions and biases affect your note taking.  Cross-referencing other bloggers adds depth to the information captured from sessions.  Post-session, reviewing your notes along with the notes of others leads to further conversations that enhance the learning experience (just noticed I am slipping into educator speak… hmm…).  Adding links to other reference material adds value in another way.   Needless to say, I am sold on the idea of blogging conferences.  Now, to create a method that will grow and succeed….  Well, that’s another task. comment [] 10:34:20 AM