Blogging in the Classroom...and Beyond!

Earlier this semester, we read a blog post by Glenn Greenwald about the lessons sports columnist Dwight Jaynes learned from bloggers' reporting techniques. Jaynes admitted to becoming "too close" to the people he covered. Dependent on access and quotes, he became unable to criticize them when necessary. Bloggers, in contrast, report from a distance. In Jaynes's words, "They aren't hindered by a need to get along or kiss up to the people they write about."

I recently stumbled across this blog post on Edutopia by teacher Will Richardson who, like Jaynes, has high praise for bloggers. Consider this quote:

"I can say without hesitation that all my traditional educational experiences combined, everything from grade school to grad school, have not taught me as much about learning and being a learner as blogging has. My ability to easily consume other people's ideas, share my own in return, and communicate with other educators around the world has led me to dozens of smart, passionate teachers from whom I learn every day."

Richardson goes on to say that in this Web 2.0 world, teachers are quick to block applications like blogs and wikis and social networking sites from classrooms, seeing them as a hindrance to learning. In reality, Richardson argues, they are what learning should be. There is a reason why lectures and textbooks and multiple choice tests fail to capture students' imagination, yet they sit absorbed for hours on interactive game sites and write for fun on personal websites. New media grabs these students' attention, and instead of fighting for it back, teachers need to learn to harness new technologies to their advantage in the classroom.

Blogs have found their place in newsrooms and are struggling to do the same in classrooms. Their enormous potential for collaboration and information sharing makes it only a matter of time before they become fixtures in virtually every professional environment. I can't wait.