Comments on: When blogs are just what your school does http://www.thethinkingstick.com/when-blogs-are-just-what-your-school-does Jeff Utecht - Bangkok, Thailand Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:47:21 +0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: shawn http://www.thethinkingstick.com/when-blogs-are-just-what-your-school-does/comment-page-1#comment-31033 shawn Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:23:19 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=640#comment-31033 You would not believe how long ive been looking for something like this. Browsed through 5 pages of Yahoo results and couldnt find anything. Very first page on Bing. There this is.... Gotta start using that more often You would not believe how long ive been looking for something like this. Browsed through 5 pages of Yahoo results and couldnt find anything. Very first page on Bing. There this is…. Gotta start using that more often

]]> By: HoosierDaddy http://www.thethinkingstick.com/when-blogs-are-just-what-your-school-does/comment-page-1#comment-29983 HoosierDaddy Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:01:52 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=640#comment-29983 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">@PartnersNgrime: Bring The #MADNESS To FaceBook! http://facebook.com/yeagerhood #YHP With @Sidekick.. http://bit.ly/PZxy.. @HoosierDaddy317</span></span> @PartnersNgrime: Bring The #MADNESS To FaceBook! http://facebook.com/yeagerhood #YHP With @Sidekick.. http://bit.ly/PZxy.. @HoosierDaddy317

]]> By: Jeff Utecht http://www.thethinkingstick.com/when-blogs-are-just-what-your-school-does/comment-page-1#comment-26455 Jeff Utecht Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:32:48 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=640#comment-26455 Hi Reece, Great questions and I will answer them the best I can. That being said, I do not claim to know what blogging is. I believe it can only truly be defined by the person who is actually blogging. So take what I have to say as my thoughts and my thoughts only....and I'm not sure how much thats worth. :) Blogging to me is defined by two things. 1 comments and 2 links. Comments make a blog a blog. They allow a conversation to happen. A blog is not a blog is there is not a conversation in an open format. I believe part of what makes a blog is being open to the public. A blog that is password protected or inside a walled garden is not actually a blog. A blog must be open to both outgoing links and incoming links to be a true blog. Links: The second part of what I believe makes a blog a blog is links that help to create organize and connect the web together. It is links that makes the web the web and the pingback and trackback features that are embedded into blogs is a way of organizing the web into useful links. Making meaning out of Chaos and tying together relevant information...relevant to the author at least. So blogs are an online conversation that are open to the public and link to relevant information and help to organize the web through links. Is using blogging software blogging? No, we use blogging software for websites. Most of what are teachers do including the Middle School PE department http://teachers.saschinaonline.org/mspudongpe is a website running on blogging software. Very few if any external links and no conversation around a topic or deep thinking happening. Yes students leave comments sometimes (mostly for assignments) and not really to engage in deep thinking and conversation around PE and Health. I would say there are very few teachers actually blogging at our school...blogging in a way that I would define it anyway. I'm not sure I've ever seen a true blogging teacher. Most teachers I know have a school blog that is more about giving information and then have a true professional blog for reflecting and carrying on the conversation. Clarence Fisher, Mark Ahlness, Darren Kuropatwa three great teachers who all have a classroom blog/website and then a personal blog. Good student blogs: There are some out there. At SAS I would point to http://blogs.saschinaonline.org/pudongtok and http://www.welkerswikinomics.com/students as two great group blogs. We have some other students who are starting to get it, but we not really teaching what blogging is, instead most students use it as a journal with few links and no real conversation outside of student in their class. The Student 2.0 blog is another great blog ran by students although outside of school. We have some good blogs as journals but it is hard to find a food student blog that matches what I define above. Again, this is just me...and I'm probably completely wrong...so take it as is. :) Hi Reece,

Great questions and I will answer them the best I can. That being said, I do not claim to know what blogging is. I believe it can only truly be defined by the person who is actually blogging. So take what I have to say as my thoughts and my thoughts only….and I’m not sure how much thats worth. :)

Blogging to me is defined by two things. 1 comments and 2 links. Comments make a blog a blog. They allow a conversation to happen. A blog is not a blog is there is not a conversation in an open format. I believe part of what makes a blog is being open to the public. A blog that is password protected or inside a walled garden is not actually a blog. A blog must be open to both outgoing links and incoming links to be a true blog.

Links: The second part of what I believe makes a blog a blog is links that help to create organize and connect the web together. It is links that makes the web the web and the pingback and trackback features that are embedded into blogs is a way of organizing the web into useful links. Making meaning out of Chaos and tying together relevant information…relevant to the author at least.

So blogs are an online conversation that are open to the public and link to relevant information and help to organize the web through links.

Is using blogging software blogging? No, we use blogging software for websites. Most of what are teachers do including the Middle School PE department http://teachers.saschinaonline.org/mspudongpe
is a website running on blogging software. Very few if any external links and no conversation around a topic or deep thinking happening. Yes students leave comments sometimes (mostly for assignments) and not really to engage in deep thinking and conversation around PE and Health. I would say there are very few teachers actually blogging at our school…blogging in a way that I would define it anyway. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a true blogging teacher. Most teachers I know have a school blog that is more about giving information and then have a true professional blog for reflecting and carrying on the conversation. Clarence Fisher, Mark Ahlness, Darren Kuropatwa three great teachers who all have a classroom blog/website and then a personal blog.

Good student blogs:
There are some out there. At SAS I would point to http://blogs.saschinaonline.org/pudongtok and http://www.welkerswikinomics.com/students as two great group blogs. We have some other students who are starting to get it, but we not really teaching what blogging is, instead most students use it as a journal with few links and no real conversation outside of student in their class. The Student 2.0 blog is another great blog ran by students although outside of school.

We have some good blogs as journals but it is hard to find a food student blog that matches what I define above. Again, this is just me…and I’m probably completely wrong…so take it as is. :)

]]> By: Reece http://www.thethinkingstick.com/when-blogs-are-just-what-your-school-does/comment-page-1#comment-26454 Reece Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:06:02 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=640#comment-26454 Hey Jeff, Can you define for me what you think "blogging" is. I've been doing a lot of research into blogs, wikis and "authentic" publishing and what I'm finding is that schools may be using blogging software but aren't actually blogging. Instead, most students and schools just use blog software to set up web pages or sites because it's so easy but blogging... I'm not so sure. If you think actual "student blogging" is happening, that has an audience, the quality of work is of a reasonable, never mind high standard and the writing is consistent, I'd love to see some examples. While researching, I keep seeing other people asking for good student examples but I never see links to any. I wish I came up with the question myself but someone else did: "is using blogging software the same as blogging?" I keep thinking of the SAS PE dept blog you pointed to a few weeks ago and wonder if that's a bulletin board or an actual blog. I haven't been to it lately but if you post the address again, I'd be happy to check it out. I have no doubt that SAS uses blogging software but I guess I'm a little sceptical that blogging is "just what SAS does." Perhaps it depends on how you or I define blogging. Hey Jeff,
Can you define for me what you think “blogging” is. I’ve been doing a lot of research into blogs, wikis and “authentic” publishing and what I’m finding is that schools may be using blogging software but aren’t actually blogging. Instead, most students and schools just use blog software to set up web pages or sites because it’s so easy but blogging… I’m not so sure. If you think actual “student blogging” is happening, that has an audience, the quality of work is of a reasonable, never mind high standard and the writing is consistent, I’d love to see some examples. While researching, I keep seeing other people asking for good student examples but I never see links to any.
I wish I came up with the question myself but someone else did: “is using blogging software the same as blogging?”
I keep thinking of the SAS PE dept blog you pointed to a few weeks ago and wonder if that’s a bulletin board or an actual blog. I haven’t been to it lately but if you post the address again, I’d be happy to check it out.
I have no doubt that SAS uses blogging software but I guess I’m a little sceptical that blogging is “just what SAS does.” Perhaps it depends on how you or I define blogging.

]]> By: An Expat Educator in Asia » Some Great Educator and Student Blogs http://www.thethinkingstick.com/when-blogs-are-just-what-your-school-does/comment-page-1#comment-26380 An Expat Educator in Asia » Some Great Educator and Student Blogs Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:33:30 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=640#comment-26380 [...] The biggest collection has been referred on my Jeff Utecht’s thinking stick blog post When blogs are just what your school does. This is an excellent post to see the power of student blogging. It also refers you to the SAS blog [...] [...] The biggest collection has been referred on my Jeff Utecht’s thinking stick blog post When blogs are just what your school does. This is an excellent post to see the power of student blogging. It also refers you to the SAS blog [...]

]]> By: Zaharo hiletnzaris http://www.thethinkingstick.com/when-blogs-are-just-what-your-school-does/comment-page-1#comment-26365 Zaharo hiletnzaris Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:38:48 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=640#comment-26365 Mr. Utecht, I am an education major at Illinois State University and have just recently been introduced to the whole concept of blogging. After reading your blog about the 8th grader who was using a blog to reach out to other kids I felt like I was behind the times and old fashioned. I am definitely not as technology savvy as the majority of students and I had no idea that kids in grade school were blogging. While I was in grade school the internet was something to fear and too complicated for the average person. I am relieved and excited that students are using this form of technology to learn, network, and most importantly reach out to others in a positive manner. I believe that as a future educator it is extremely important to encourage students to reach out and help others. Doing this in a manner that is familiar and comfortable for our youth makes this an enjoyable experience for them. I look forward to implementing ideas like these into my own classroom in the future. Sincerely, Zaharo Hilentzaris Mr. Utecht,
I am an education major at Illinois State University and have just recently been introduced to the whole concept of blogging. After reading your blog about the 8th grader who was using a blog to reach out to other kids I felt like I was behind the times and old fashioned. I am definitely not as technology savvy as the majority of students and I had no idea that kids in grade school were blogging. While I was in grade school the internet was something to fear and too complicated for the average person. I am relieved and excited that students are using this form of technology to learn, network, and most importantly reach out to others in a positive manner. I believe that as a future educator it is extremely important to encourage students to reach out and help others. Doing this in a manner that is familiar and comfortable for our youth makes this an enjoyable experience for them. I look forward to implementing ideas like these into my own classroom in the future.
Sincerely,
Zaharo Hilentzaris

]]> By: wmchamberlain http://www.thethinkingstick.com/when-blogs-are-just-what-your-school-does/comment-page-1#comment-26364 wmchamberlain Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:35:59 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=640#comment-26364 This is why context is becoming more important than content. We need to realize that the tools necessary for students to create their own learning are in place and we need to develop ways to encourage those tools to be used. This is why context is becoming more important than content. We need to realize that the tools necessary for students to create their own learning are in place and we need to develop ways to encourage those tools to be used.

]]> By: Charlie A. Roy http://www.thethinkingstick.com/when-blogs-are-just-what-your-school-does/comment-page-1#comment-26359 Charlie A. Roy Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:06:53 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=640#comment-26359 Sounds like very exciting work. Sounds like very exciting work.

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