Will, I think you’re misreading the results: under “job description” educators were only 5.6% of the responders, while students were 10% (the largest group); under “industry”, education leads with almost 15%. My guess is that the majority of those students are not involved with the sort of blogging you value, but the sort that talks about their dates and their lunch and how much they hate their math teacher (the on-line diary-as-blog).

Yeah, I think Laura’s right. There is just no way that there’s a hidden teacher blogosphere the size of the tech blogging community.

I’m fairly suspicious of that 5.6%. It sometimes feels like some of the “teachers” are maybe something else. Probably just my paranoia acting up

Joe, that’s true. A teacher (accurately reporting both job description and industry) could be blogging about their cat or their favorite tv shows, not doing “educational blogging”.

The statistics I found far more interesting were the ones on how people got information. Despite rumors to the contrary, blogging and on-line sources have not completely killed traditional forms of media.

Oh c’mon you guys. Can’t you let me have a little fun? There are millions of teachers blogging. More teachers than technologists. Millions, I say. Doing the verb, not navel gazing. Say it with me…tipping point. Tipping Point. TIPPING POINT!!!

(Please?)

Whether or not the numbers are currently high, I think they’re about to go up. I’ve only been blogging for a couple of months, but there’s something contageous about the experience. I suspect that the idea of “tipping point” is probably close to reality. As the tech gets easier, more and more teachers will get on board. What concerns me, though, is how the institutions (districts, boards, etc.) are going to respond to so many teachers blogging. We need some policies.

Bud

Hi Will,
I really like your blog! It’s very informative. I’m a middle school special education teacher and am new to blogging. I’m going to be setting up a blog for my students shortly to increase written expression motivation. I’ll also be researching their writing as a part of my grad school Specialist thesis. However, a lot of my teacher friends are skeptical and say I should worry about the legalities. Thus, I’m researching the legalities and created an exploratory blog. Alas, do you know the anything pertaining to the law and blogs in the classroom, or know who may?
My blog is at: http://bloglawclassroom.blogspot.com/
Please feel free to visit and comment. : )Thanks again for creating a really informative blog for us novice teachers.
Best,
Mechelle : )

P.S. Tipping Point! : )

Mechele - At Will’s workshop last weekend I asked for exactly what you’re putting together. I’ve added your feed to my Bloglines list, and linked your site to the workshop’s blog.

Cool Corrie! Can you give me the URL for the workshops blog? I want to check it out. Can any teacher come to the workshop? Blogging in the classroom is going to be one of my research focuses for UF. I’m setting up the research design now. Thanks again! Have a great night.
Mechelle : )

I’m a librarian who is not blogging….yet…
I attended one of your sessions at the MACUL conference in Detroit Friday. I, too, am interested in the legal ramifications of classroom/student blogging. I suspect that each state has statutes regarding student privacy, but they are probably all similar. If anyone finds general information on this topic, consider posting a note here. Will, you mentioned that you have parents sign a release form giving their permission for students to participate. Would you include this form here?

During the conference I asked if you had a formal written school policy regarding student blogs. I don’t remember that you had one. After, I began wondering what the parents sign. They would be giving permission for some general protocol. So, it would be helpful to see the permission form.

Thanks, it was an exciting conference.