Friday, June 28, 2013

Blogging as Pedagogic Practice Thoughts

Blogging as Pedagogic Practice Artefact and Ecology


Hi Everyone!

Today I am going to share just some quick thoughts about Marcus O' Donnell's article Blogging as Pedagogic Practice: Artefact and Ecology.  I have linked the article above. 

I cannot explain why or where my train of thought came from but for some unknown reason to me the  United States Army motto: An Army of One kept echoing in my thoughts towards the end of O'Donnell's article. Feel free to question my sanity for that but at least let me explain. The army of one motto is modeled off the belief the strength of all is aided by the strength of one. So here I am reading an academic article and digesting it by comparing it to military recruitment strategies.  The more I thought about it though, the more I realized the concepts were not all that different.  The strength of student blogging has the potential to come from its uses in multiple classes and curriculum.  In O'Donnell's article there is a reference to a teacher’s post about her honeymoon with blogging in her classroom being over. A comment on that post read, "blogs are not good tools for facilitating discussion".  That comment is right. One person actively participating is not going to open up the potential blogging could have. One student actively blogging about what he or she understands from the lesson is not going to help  reach the objectives they need to meet. Much like in the army's motto, one person does not make an army. It is the strength of many; individual persons that makes the army. 


We cannot expect a vibrant conversation to magically emerge in student blogs without providing a development framework (O'Donnell, 2006). If only a few classes or students embrace blogging then educators should realize the concept might not have been properly implemented. Only when integrated with a plan and road map for expectations should blogging or even technology in the classroom  be attempted. Too often, the assumption is that new technology is best and should be adopted right away.   Without the proper measures taken however, it will most likely feel like a failure to teachers and administrators. Teachers might complain about the hype of blogging and how it does not aid in what they do, but is that a fair assessment? What if the problem lies in its implementation?  Again, the army of one motto rings in my thoughts. The implementation process is only as good as the one teacher developing the lesson plan for its uses. Does it stop there though? I do not think so, I think the army now comes into play. Who is the army behind helping a teacher incorporate a blog? How about their educational technologist,  IT support staff, the school board who helps explain its importance, and the parents who realize the potential or addresses their fears. With the fears addressed administrators can take more precautions to meet the needs of the parents. And what about the superintendent who recognizes that using blogs across multiple grades, classes, and curriculum will help build and utilize its maximum potential? Together that army has the potential to incorporate a technology that can benefit the student.


I cannot explain why an Army of One stuck in my mind this whole time. Isn't that the point of being able to blog and write though? While I cannot explain that feeling, I can write it, and get that thought out in the world.  Maybe it makes sense to my audience and maybe it does not.  More importantly  though writing about it helped my understanding of this article.  It helped me digest the information, and build a concept out of an inner feeling.  "To Papert, projecting out our inner feelings and ideass is key to learning"(O'Donnell, 2006).

References:

O'Donnell, M. (2006). Blogging as pedagogic practice artefact and ecology. Asia Pacific Media Educator, (17), 5-19. 

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