Month: January 2013

Why Blog?

This past week I have been "studying" the excellent online lessons posted by Jane Hart about blogging. One consequence is that I have experimented changing the look of my posts here. I'm not sure that I agree with Jane that  it is important to keep a blog "dynamic" by changing its appearances, but in so doing I can better get a sense of what this TypePad blogging tool can and cannot do.

Motivated by Jane's lessons I have begun investigating the relative strengths and weaknesses FOR ME and FOR MY PURPOSES of WordPress, Edublogs, Blogger, and Tumblr. I definitely plan to incorporate blogging as a component into my "Virtual European Immersion Course" (let me know if you are interested in more about this). However, I think I can adequately address that need with the integrated blogging tool which is part of the Social Network software i am using there (Ning).

I initially made a number of half-hearted attempts at blogging about six years ago but didn't seriously start using blogging tools until I was awarded an opportunity to become an online  "community blogger" for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It was during that year that I  discovered the seminal work of  my "virtual" mentor the indefatigable, never seems to sleep Jane Hart. I was also  blessed to have a supportive editor who gave me free license to explore Web 2.0 tools and to write about whatever i cared to. Given that freedom to explore I rediscovered the joys and challenges of writing. The following year I was given the opportunity to teach a semester-long course on Web 2.0 learning tools to 25 college freshmen and blogging was a tool I introduced to them.

 I blog when I feel I have something to say that might be of interest to others. I have an interest in life-long learning and in sharing what I learn. I have no particular interest in having a large number of followers, but I welcome feedback and, as time allows, I will acknowledge it. I've "met" a large  number of interesting individuals in the past few years who have enriched my life and informed my teaching and learning. Let's learn together.

 

Pensive Robin

Robin the Newf – My Canine Confidante

 

 

Responding to Jane Hart’s “10 Tools Challenge”

Recently Jane Hart has extended an interesting professional development challenge.  Make a resolution to find out how to use 10 new tools this year and write a monthly blog post describing one's experiences with the tools.Though I have been a persistent dillettante of her Top 100 Tools for Learning Lists for the past six years, this semester I have a unique opportunity (and a block of dedicated time) to focus on mastery of a subset of these tools. Hence, I accept and welcome the "challenge!" Thanks for the 'incentive", Jane!

Over the next 15 weeks six of my students and I will be working on a project to create a "virtual European immersion cultural experience course." Among the resources we will be drawing upon are

  1. Jane Hart's Social Learning Handbook (and selective updated material I shall master as a function of my joining the Top 100 Tools Club)
  2. Susan Manning and Kevin E. Johnson's The Technology Toolbelt for Teaching
  3. Laurence Peters' Global Education: Using Technology to Bring the World to Your Students
  4. Michelle Pacansky-Brock's Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies and
  5. Deltina Hay's A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization: Strategies, Tactics, and Tools for Succeeding in the Social Web

 The broad categories of tools I hope to master with my students are

Ambitious? Yes. Overly ambitious —time will tell but I am blessed with an unusually talented group of students with whom I have worked for years and who each have received a brand new Ipad to support their creation of this new course.

We welcome feedback and ideas.