Wednesday, June 20, 2007

my other blog is a Porsche

It turns out that blogging, for the purpose of teaching or otherwise, is really a habit that has to be learned. The prolific characters of the "blogosphere" (don't get me started on the terminology thing!) are not the norm - most people don't take the time to publish their lengthy perspectives on the Universe multiple times a day. Most people have to think a bit rather than simply streaming their consciousness all over the 'Net.

I run or contribute to three or four blogs pretty regularly and I have to make a concerted effort to keep up that pace. In certain cases the habit can become something more, a regular idle-time activity. In others it can become therapeutic or even addictive. In still others the content is dry enough to make it clearly a task for work hours only. I just hope that a few teachers at Illinois Wesleyan give it that first bit of effort - set up feeds to consume the content (I'll help with that), then make it a habit to write a bit. Let's communicate!

2 comments:

Stephanie Davis-Kahl said...

I agree - the bloggers I follow (for work, for fun) are all consistently active. And, one of the most valuable things for me as a blog reader/participant is the posting of related links - other blogs, YouTube videos, websites, whatever - that either illuminate the conversation or demonstrate a specific point.

So, here's a great YouTube video a colleague here at Ames sent me recently. It was created by anthropology professor Michael Wesch at Kansas State University. It's thought-provoking, scary, exciting stuff all wrapped up in a 4.5 minute video. Would love to hear what you all think of the video...

Patrick McLane said...

I'm so delighted you posted this video. I first saw it at ASCUE in South Carolina...right after our workshop here at IWU. What a marvelous piece of work...thanks for sharing.