To Blog or not to blog—a Blogospective

In the first graduate course I took in educational technology, I began my own blog and linked a podcast to it that I had developed on the subject of podcasting. After the first posting, and waiting in vain for someone to comment on my pitiful start, I abandoned it to the great cemetery of cyberspace.

Since then, I have been fairly reluctant to participate in the “fire hose” of “talk ,” as Bob Walsh describes the blogosphere in his blogging handbook, Clear Blogging (4). I did not understand a blog’s value as a discussion tool, and underestimated its value as a network between people who would otherwise be invisible to each other (though I have also been known to read a blog or two when someone brings it to my attention as noteworthy, and I faithfully follow the blog of a young friend of mine, Becca Taylor, who is a pediatric nurse on a Mercy Ship). However, the “fire hose” for me seemed more like Niagara Falls. Being rather anally organized, I could not see how the gargantuan amount of information available, the glut of opinion and chatter could be organized into any usable and useful form.

Thus, when I read Walsh’s comment about profiting from the blogosphere on my own terms, I had a minor epiphany: “It’s not that it’s evil, devouring, or malevolent—quite the contrary. The problem is the blogosphere is a growing, engaging, whirlwind of information and opinion, and it is much too easy to find yourself sucked in, spun around, and overwhelmed” (16), or, in my case, in a barrel headed toward the edge of the falls. Using “Google blog search,” I began to look tentatively for blogs written by people with whom I would actually comment and interact.

I found Liz Davis’s blog The Power of Educational Technology. Liz is the Ed Tech Director at the Belmont Hill School, which, like my school, is in the New England Independent School Association. She writes a blog directed specifically for teachers, and shares her experience and expertise in the area of incorporating technology within the classroom. One of her top posts included 10 tips for teaching technology to teachers. She states: “It isn't really about the tool it is about how you use it: It isn't the word processing software, it's the skills and usefulness of word processing. It isn't the presentation software, it's how to create a meaningful and effective presentation.” Her blog is professional and invites networking. She also has some great resources, including a section entitled “Two for Tuesday” where she lists two favorite tools and how to use them.

Another area of particular interest is Alzheimer’s since both of my parents are suffering from that disease. Susan Berg’s Dementia Views You Can Use is replete with helpful suggestions and links to resources. Berg is a dementia expert, and her blog is full of links to solid resources such as activities and information about being a caregiver. Neither Davis nor Berg represents the large media writers deemed “the experts.” Rather, they are both simply women with expertise in their professions, and a willingness to share their knowledge with their readers.

I now understand the blogosphere as “hundreds of thousands of online communities differentiated by interest” (16), which is a far more manageable way of organizing its enormity of information. Thus, instead of rolling off of Niagara Falls, I can sit safely on its river banks, enjoying getting my feet wet with no fear of mortal danger. I can even offer my own experience as a teacher and mother, through my own blog and comment on others as a way of mentoring and joining communities bound by interest, profession, or personal life points.