Blog Reflection Number One

Creating a blog and clarifying my educational philosophy in writing will have a positive influence on future technology projects. I encourage the teachers and students to use innovative technical tools yet I seldom have the opportunity to explore and utilize some of the newer technologies myself. Honestly though ~ I am not comfortable writing my thoughts for others to read ~ so this will be great practice for future endeavors~!

Blogging has many potential uses in education. Steve Downes stated the "blogging is an opportunity to exchange our point of view with the rest of the world... not just our immediate environment" and that blogging in it's purest form is essentially personal publishing. Although many people blog, in k-12 education I believe we are just beginning to realize the impact blogging can have on teaching and learning. Due to security and confidentiality issues many educators are hesitant to use blogs. I think training and safe blog environments monitored by teachers will increase the use of blogs in schools.

Alan November's article is thought provoking. The discussion about automating vs. informating describes a paradigm shift in teaching and learning ~ and November is correct. It is not about the technology ~ it is about communication and allowing learners to take responsibility for their own learning. Many students have access to technologies outside of school, yet when they come to school, we force them to check them at the door. As Informators we must analyze our current educational philosophies ~ about students and their communication tools, teachers, and education in general and perhaps develop philosophies for the "Education Information Age" that better reflect the culture we find ourselves in!