Erin Long and I spent a few hours today talking to campus IDs about blogs@psu. I had a great time. Right before I am scheduled to speak in front of a group of people, I always start to get the fear. Will I be standing up there blathering about for two hours on my own as the rest of the people in room look at me quizzically, as if what I am saying barely qualifies for English? Will I pass the time flopping like a fish out of oxygen?
I am happy to say that this was not the case. The two hours flew by and were filled with lively discussion from everyone around the table. I started out with yet another iteration of the spiel I have been using about blogs@psu as learning portfolios and lifelong learning communities. We were going to do a how-to, but there was so much discussion, we skipped that part and went right into Erin sharing how the faculty she has worked with have been using blogs.
I am seeing the conversation change. Less talk about the specifics of the tool, and what blogging is (answer: simple web publishing(although don't deny the power of this simple idea, whose effects are still being borne out)) to more talk about the implications this will have for education. Of course it helps that this stuff isn't just theoretical anymore. We have the Comm 180 blogging assignments, the Schreyer Honors College blog portfolio project, English 202C redesign, and of course the teacher education student portfolios.
Lots of talk about student portfolios, not class blogs. We looked at students can maintain their own learning portfolio/repository while still participating in the creation of class blog through the use of tags.
I am a programmer, so please forgive my use of nested parentheses.
hey brad,
great blog post. i'm really interested in how this can translate to staff's learning and development, including the SRDP process (which I'm pretty sure we all dread in its current state).
cheers,
((lisa)) (I was only a programmer for a year, so i have no excuse for double parens.)
I think a blog/portfolio could play a role in the staff development process. Just like a student can use tags to relate to reflection and artifacts to program and personal learning goals, a staff member could use tags to relate their work and reflection to unit goals, and their own professional development goals.
Definitely a way to keep the process active throughout the year.
"blog is a tool for students to craft their digital identity with intention."
I love this quote, and it will go a long way towards framing how we push blogs as eportfolios at UMW. This is a great presentation, and I will be stealing parts of it for a push we will be having to ask students to take possession of their work over the course of their career. Great stuff, Brad, I truly love how you all are framing this stuff.