I have to admit, before this class my idea of blogging consisted of personal online “journals” of people venting and gossiping (aka causing drama) and maybe people writing about their travels and giving music/movie reviews here and there. Sadly, the only “famous” blog I knew existed was perezhilton.com (yes, I just revealed a guilty pleasure). If you were to ask me a month ago if I felt blogging made a huge impact on our society, my answer would have been, “Is Britney Spears sane?”From all I knew, in the whole scheme of things, who the heck cares what Chatty Cathy has to say about her boyfriend dumping her or what she thinks about the new Fergie CD. I was never aware that the blogging world offers so MUCH more than celebrity gossip and trivial information. I now accept my ignorance and thankfully see the true power of blogging!
While the blogs I initially thought to be the sole definition will forever exist, there is a whole side of blogging that is often ignored: a side of blogging that welcomes intellectual conversation, thought-provoking opinions, and informed and helpful resources. Upon reading the first chapter of Will Richardson’s Blogs, Wikis, Podcast, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, I was intrigued by the statement, “We are no longer limited to being independent readers or consumers of information; as we’ll see, we can be collaborators in the creation of large storehouses of information.” The key word is COLLABORATORS. Through blogging, essentially everyone can contribute their knowledge and have a huge influence on higher levels that once were thought to be impossible. Not convinced? I recently stumbled across an article about a blogger who fixed a mistake made by NASA, which influenced a further look into global warming: Quarter-Degree Fix Fuels Climate Fight. The fact that an “ordinary” person questioned the leading scientist of NASA and influenced a major change would have sounded ludicrous in the past. As the article states this crucial information “would most likely have passed unremarkably if Mr. McIntyre had not blogged…” Such instances as these prove that blogging shows new voices are being heard and are positively impacting our world. Fortunately, an increasing number of people are taking advantage of such an opportunity. The Rodes Fishburne’s article, Blog Power, states that, “bloggers…have made an indelible imprint by focusing less on the meta-conversation, and more on specifics: fact checking, comparing old transcripts to new material and making phone calls”. Because of the power blogging has on or society, I completely agree with Richardson’s notion that teachers should implement the use of blogging into their classrooms. Sure students may know what a “blog” is, and they may actually “blog” themselves, but do they realize the potential power blogging can have? Through blogging, teachers can motivate students by showing them how they can be heard and how they can make a difference.
As Fishburne’s article concludes, “that’s true power, the power of revealing powerful things. And blogs are one of the mediums responsible.”
KL
