I worried about writing a blog post about bogging, hence my procrastination. However, after re-energizing at an education conference with Linda, I now dare to put words to screen. My personal experience of blogging my learning is extremely positive, but I struggled to comment about blogs because I had incorrectly assumed educators were on the same page regarding using blogs for learning. My time will come. I look forward to using ‘open’ blogs with learners in the 2015-16 academic year.

I believe blogs
— are regular texts (images and videos) uploaded to online public spaces,
— include date entries that encourage recurrent posts,
— facilitate development of writing and media skills through repetition,
— enable access to information and interaction from anywhere with a internet connection,
— push bloggers to share their best efforts because potential readers (across time and space) are completely unknown,
— enable interaction through posts and comments between all members of the learning team (and potential outside audiences).

The internet is not just a place to seek information from. The internet is a place to share information in. Communities are not restricted to geographical locations. Online communities share common interests from diverse locations. We have the technology to interact, so let’s do it!

I worry that teachers mostly passively deliver information, instructions and feedback. Disappointedly, technology doesn’t appear to have drastically updated the age-old norm of teachers as givers and learners as receivers.

I believe learning requires interaction, between all members of the learning team. Respect and equality are the core of high quality learning. Everything teaching teams ask of learners, they need to ask of themselves. I agree with Sonya van Schaijk, if learners blog, teachers must blog. If learners maintain learning portfolios, then teachers must maintain learning portfolios. Ultimately, if learners learn, then teachers must learn too. Modeling has a strong effect on learning. Teachers need to role model genuine learning.

Teachers can make their own learning transparent to learners through blogging. I’m in!

However, when top-down instructions state that students must write reflective blogs, educators can interpret blogging in ways I hadn’t even considered. I don’t understand why blogs are sometimes used as exclusive private texts between one student and one lecturer. To me, one-to-one communication is not blogging. Instead ‘closed’ blogging just appears to add an additional inefficient collection point for digital communication, when surely simple emails between two people would suffice.