Sixty percent of bloggers feel they are at risk of a libel lawsuit for something they have written to their blogs according to this New York Times magazine article yesterday. Now people are afraid to rant in social situations for fear it will end up being published by some anonymous blogger hoping to get a $300,000 book deal like “Washingtonienne” who was identifying high-up-in-the-government lovers by their initials. Couples need to determine what’s on and off the record. Single bloggers should avoid the subject lest they turn away potential suitors. As the article says:

In the age of blogs, all citizens, no matter how obscure, will have to adjust their behavior to the possibility that someone may be writing about them.

Well there’s a real positive advertisement for blogging. Oy.
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Alan points to John Udell’s recent essay in InfoWorld, “The Network is the Blog” where, I think, he begins to articulate the effects of blogs and blogging and RSS from a information literacy standpoint:

The crush of information we process every day creates a terrible dilemma. On the one hand, we must conserve the scarce resource of attention. On the other hand, we need to become aware of everything that matters.

This begs a number of questions. First, how do we decide what matters? Second, once we figure that out, can we actually know everything that matters? And finally, if we think we can, how do we do that? Udell reflects on his practice, which is really pretty similar to my own:

Consider how my own inputs have evolved over the past five years. At one time, my RSS intake was mostly feeds from conventional published sources, along with a few from individuals. Now it’s the reverse. I subscribe to people more than to publications, and not because I don’t value the information in those publications — I do, very much — but rather because, outside of the realms in which I’m closely involved, I can delegate the job of tracking primary sources to people whose interests and inclinations qualify them to do so.

The irony of all of this is obvious. The more people we have glossing sources of information out there, the more information there is. The more information there is, the more we need help in finding what’s relevant and consuming it. I continue to struggle with this because although I agree it’s important to “know everything that matters,” at least in theory, I’m wondering if it’s humanly possible. The other piece of it is that there is no universal definition of what is important; what’s important to me is certainly different from what’s important to you. So this becomes an active relationship with information rather than a passive one. What a concept.

The good news is that without question, the Read/Write Web has made the consumption of information much more democratic, and it will continue to do so as long as it’s not regulated by the knuckleheads who currently regulate the more traditional media. And the other good news is that the more people we have using this network, the more reputable sources of information out there will rise to surface. Our job as educators is to give our kids the tools and the wherewithal to employ them in their own search for important and meaningful information. That’s doesn’t mean that every student needs to start and keep a blog, though I think on the whole, that would be a good thing. But it does mean we need to teach our kids how to think like a blogger. If we don’t teach them how to be editors as well as writers and readers, we’re doing them a great disservice.

Hopefully, we’ll be seeing more and more of this:

I have to hand it to all of you, you’ve done an amazing job with keeping things fresh and real at the Class Blog this semester. If you remember, I started the semester with a plea to participate and a flat out declaration, that “this is a grand experiment.” Well, for my money, this has been a great success!

Cole Campalese at Penn State used a Weblog with his Information Sciences and Technology class this fall to discuss issues related to class. The part I really like is that he hopes to add to the blog in upcoming semesters, making it a course text. It’s good stuff. Take a look, for instance, at this thread about computers that can make themselves smarter.

I know it’s obvious, but I just want to point out that the instructor’s investment in this blog is probably what made it a success in large measure. Teaching with a Weblog takes work, but it’s work that I think, and it seems others think is well worth it.
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I’ve been using Manila both personally and with my classes for three years, but somehow the Site Access Restrictions feature just slipped by me. I’m not sure it’s the most, shall we say “elegant” solution to the some parts public, some parts private issue, but it is a solution nonetheless. This way, students can limit access to certain pages in the site to say, just the teacher, putting only finished work out there for everyone to see. The idea is crucial, I think, though an easier solution would be to include those access choices where you create the content. This doesn’t seem to work with News Items, but it does work with Stories.

George Siemens at elearnspace says:

One of the complaints often directed at blogging is that not everyone is a blogger – not everyone has the interest, time or the skills to write for others.

While glancing through Furl’s Popular List , I realized how effective it could be as a learning tool. Anyone can use Furl (it simply stores a copy of a webpage in your user folder, so pages aren’t lost or links broken). Making connections is a knowledge era skill. Imagine a group of 25 students subscribing to each others online topics of interest (Furl folders can be public or private)…gaining insight into what other classmates found interesting enough to keep.

Note to self: start a Furl pilot program in one subject specific courses like Psychology or Law.

I’d been looking for a list like this for quite a while…here are over 150 local, state and national U.S. newspapers with RSS feeds. And that doesn’t include international papers. I just think that’s pretty amazing, and there is no doubt that number is going to grow.

Right now, every student in my school could have a free subscription to the New York Times, Washington Post, Dallas Morning News and a whole bunch of other really respected, well-written newspapers. If they wanted to get a little ambitious, they could go to Blogdigger and “roll their own” feeds from the various newspapers of interest, say The Week in Review from the Times, national news from the Post, the learning news from the Christian Science Monitor, the local news from the Philly Inquirer, and the weather from USA Today. And it would all come to them, as it happens, whenever they want to read it. That does not, of course, guarantee that they would read it, but still. It’s not hard to set them up with a Bloglines account, create a feed for them, have them add it, and then give them a few minutes every other day or so to check out what’s new. Or have them add interesting stories to a class blog. Or have them find their own feeds. Or…
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So don’t get me wrong…I LOVE Bloglines probably more than any other read/write Web tool out there. Frankly, I’m not sure everyone should be a blogger. But I am sure everyone should use an aggregator. Everyone. And to me, Bloglines is hands down the most convenient.

But a few months ago they added this new “Keep New” feature where if there is a post you want to get back to at some point you can click the box and it will stay in the list until you, theoretically at least, come back at a later time and unclick it. Problem is I’m having a little difficulty with the second half of that equation. So now, before I even start reading what’s come in just the EdBlogger part of my subscriptions, I have 124 messages that are “Keeping New,” just kinda waiting there for me to do something with. And it’s unnerving me to some extent, accentuating this feeling that I have that I’ll never know it or read it all.

What characterizes a “Keep New” post, you ask? (Like someone is really asking…) Well, usually it’s something I read when I might not have enough time to fully digest what it’s about and I think I might want to blog about it later, or it’s something I want to try out but it doesn’t especially look like a resource I could Furl. (Ironically, the oldest “Kept New” post I have is Lilia’s “Time in blogging: catching a moment to write” from September 27. Coincidence???) Regardless, I think I’m going to have to resolve NOT to keep things new, to figure out something to do with whatever piques my interest. But what?

On a side note, my aggregator reading has now totally evolved into something akin to throwing darts. I cannot get my little Bloglines notifier to say anything under 1,000 posts waiting to be read, and so I just go in a randomly click off a few of the bigger culprits just to get the number down. What I should do is just admit that, especially this time of year, there’s no way I can do 150 subscriptions justice. But who (or what) do I delete? Oh, the humanity!

On second thought, maybe some people shouldn’t have an aggregator either…

Here’s a pretty interesting article about using wikis as a learning tool. I like the icebreaker exercise that the authors use to get students familiar with the technology, and I think it can serve as a good model for the ways to introduce much of these new tools. The best way to really understand the power of personal publishing is to, well, publish personally, put yourself out there, talk about who you are and what you want from life.

And while we’re on the subject, I found another wiki-type site today at Planetmath.org where hundreds (thousands?) of left-brain types are building a site full of math resources.

PlanetMath is a virtual community which aims to help make mathematical knowledge more accessible. PlanetMath’s content is created collaboratively: the main feature is the mathematics encyclopedia with entries written and reviewed by members. The entries are contributed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (FDL) in order to preserve the rights of both the authors and readers in a sensible way.

I sent out an e-mail to my math department with the link and hopefully planting the idea that we could do the same here. I’m scheduled to meet with the Media Lit teacher tomorrow and start the wiki project in that class next week. Maybe the meme will spread…
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One of the things I like most about my job is that I get to observe a number of non-tenured teachers each year. I’m especially enjoying it this year because I’m not teaching and it gives me a chance to get back into the classroom for a bit. It always reminds me what a great job teaching can be (especially now that I don’t have all the grading!) I love watching the way teachers interact with their kids, and I love even more the chance to listen to the way high school students think and act. As I am the “tech guy,” a lot of the non-tenures ask me for ways that they might integrate technology into their classes. This week, in fact, a teacher who is doing The Odyssey asked what she might have her kids do to interpret the book. A few years ago, I might have said something about PowerPoint presentations and Websites. But here’s what I mentioned in her observation:

No Need to Click Here – I’m just claiming my feed at Feedster

I’ve put together a document that clearly spells out the use of Weblogs at our school. There has been some confusion internally as to the scope of what we’re actually doing, so I wanted to create a defining, policies and procedures summary that would answer most if not all questions. I’m hoping it might be of some use to others thinking about similar programs. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions or suggestions.

Those of you who still actually visit this site (as opposed to subscribing via RSS)
may notice a little change in focus on my masthead today. This blog
started three years ago focusing on blogs in the classroom. Then it
expanded to include RSS and wikis. Now, it’s scope has become much more
broad again.

What I’ve come to realize is that for me, at least, this really has
become more a place to think and write and talk about the potential of
the Read/Write Web. Sure, that includes the individual tools. But it’s
the larger shift that the individual tools make possible that is really
the focus of much of my blogging of late. Recently, I’ve been starting every presentation and workshop
with that context, and I think it gives people a better understanding
of what all of this might mean for education. Our relationship with the
Internet, with information, to some degree with each other, is
fundamentally changing, in ways that I think are extremely exciting for
educators. We’re still throwing darts in the dark to a large degree,
but it’s becoming much more clear that as the Read/Write Web changes
other portions of our world (business, politics, etc.) it will no doubt
have a huge impact on education.

So, Weblogg-ed is now about “the Read/Write Web in the classroom.” Not
very newsworthy, I know, but I just wanted to recognize the continuing
evolution of the discussion here. I’m sure it will continue to evolve
as we all continue to read and write and learn.

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—–

I’ve been thinking more about the whole barriers to entry thing these
last couple of days, mostly because I’m hitting some bumps in my own
practice. Nothing as dire as what James experienced, I don’t think, but
unsettling nonetheless. And what I’m realizing is that much of what
K-12 educators are rubbing up against in trying to figure out the
read/write Web has very little with figuring out the technology. It’s
figuring out the disruption. Not much of an “A Ha!” moment, I know, but
sometimes it’s only when I write (blog) about these dull impressions
that they find some focus.

I’m all with Anne when she writes (blogs):

I’ve said
before that blogging is the best inservice that I’ve ever had. It is
learning focused on my needs and interests. With a few clicks on the
keyboard I have a
world of viewpoints at my fingertips. I’m meeting colleagues, whom
without blogs, I  might otherwise have never met.
Learning is making connections. It’s getting ideas, it’s an up close
and personal view of a colleague’s thinking and it is a sharing spirit
with other bloggers who see the potential. All of this gets me to
“raise the bar” in my own thinking. At first, it does seem like an
add-on and it does take time to explore the different avenues to see
the incredible possibilities.But the payoff is enormous! This type of
learning gives me ownership,
a voice, and a stake in the whole process.  I’m writing, learning,
and engaging in dialogue in a way I had never done before. All this
with a simple piece of technology that costs little or nothing, allows
me to publish instantly, receive comments and continue the
conversations.

I could just as easily have written that. Good stuff. But…I’m not sure I’m with her when she says:

Then here’s the real
kicker.   We can put weblogs in our students’ hands and get
them writing, posting, thinking, creating, and responding on
subjects they care about. The students voice can be heard, we can
listen to those voices, and be a part of fostering needed change in
education. The time for blogging is now!

It’s
easy for Anne and I to learn from blogging because we’re into the
independent learning phase of our lives. (That does not mean “old,” by
the way.) And, luckily, we’ve learned to love learning. Our kids,
unfortunately, are still dependent learners for the most part. They’re
dependent on an educational system that force feeds them a prescribed
curriculum in order that they can pass a high stakes assessment that
certifies them as being “educated.” They’re dependent on us to decide
what is important for them to learn and what isn’t. Our system enables
them, in the worst sense of the word, to become passive learners for
the most part, because passive assessments are what determine both our
students’ and our schools’ fates.

In this environment, any disruption is magnified. We want tried and
true methods that will get results. We want success that is measurable
and data driven. We want “high-achieving” students, even if the
measures of “high-achieving” have been dumbed down by the pressure of
parents and the government to “get into a good college” or, you guessed it, pass the test.
Disruptive ideas or methods inherently accentuate the potential for
failure. Disruptions are untried; they are risky. (Again, none of this
is particularly earth-shattering stuff…)

But the key aspect of the read/write Web that makes it so powerful for
people like Anne and me is that the learning we experience is nurtured
by the transparency of what we do. Read carefully what she
writes:  a
world of viewpoints. Meeting colleagues. Making connections. Sharing
spirit
with other bloggers. Ownership. Voice. A stake in the process. All of
that happens only because we do it out in the open. And we do it out in
the open because for the first time, we can.
That’s the power of the read/write Web. And it’s the scary part. It’s
not just disruptive; it’s disruptive for everyone to see. I know that
the concern about safety and privacy are legitimate. But we have those
concerns regardless of whether a student is on the Internet or not.
What really scares people, I think, is that all of a sudden, the bar of
accountability goes way up when we start putting student work on the
Web. When I show my daughter’s Weblog at a presentation, I’ve had more
than a few people actually ask me “But what about all the
misspellings?” She’s seven, for crissakes! But that’s the mentality.
What about the mistakes? What if it’s controversial (meaning, what if a
kid has an original thought?) What if …? What if…? What if…?

And it’s not just blogs. It’s movies or podcasts or pieces of art…Now
that we can easily publish to the Internet and do some really
contructivist things with it, a lot of people are asking themselves,
“Um, do we really want to be doing that?” It’s disruptive that we’re asking our kids to be active instead of passive. What a concept!

Oy. So this has turned into a rant. Well, I haven’t had a good one here in a while. I’m frustrated. I needed it.

Anne’s right…all of this can foster a needed change in education. But, man, the pace is slow.

I did some blogvangelism yesterday at the Educational Media Association
of NJ conference for about 40 or so library specialists. The cool thing
was that I co-presented with the librarian from my school, and we gave
them a pretty comprehensive overview of how blogs are being used in
schools and libraries. We had a lot of people asking questions and
running ideas by us, and it was obvious, as it usually is, that this
was a technology they could see using with their teachers and students.

Except for a lack of tech support, and a lack of vision, and a lack of
time. One person said that she had gone to her superintendent and asked
about using blogs and he just flat out said “NO.” When she asked why,
he said something to the effect of “We don’t want to open up that can
of worms.” Hmmm. Another person said she just knew with 100% certainty
that her tech person wouldn’t consider the idea, that it was just too
far out of the box. I got that sense to one degree or another from a
lot of the other people there. While  most were, I think, really
impressed by what we were doing, they just didn’t see it happening at
their own schools.

That is one of my frustrations, these days, but I’m also getting over
it. I’ve just come to realize that the window for doing “Intro to the
Read/Write Web” type presentations is probably about five years or
more. It’s education, stupid.

But here is the real kicker.
In both of the presentations I did this week, a woman raised her hand
and said basically word for word the same thing: “When I told my
daughter that I was going to a presentation on blogs, she said ‘NO! You
can’t do blogs in schools! Blogs are OURS!’”

I swear to god… Too funny. And too clearly native vs. immigrant
related. But that’s what education does with technology. Stays behind
the curve… Now that IS frustrating.
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