Thursday, February 16, 2006
Why blog? Why not face-to-face conversation?
Dale's note: We've gotten a good conversation going as a response to my original post. Since it's a great topic, I'm moving the discussion to the top level of the blog.
The question has come up - why are we moving away from face-to-face conversation and to something more distant, like blogging? (Michele, I hope I'm paraphrasing your question properly.) Shouldn't we be encouraging students to talk with each other more?
I don't feel that blogging will completely take the place of talking to each other, any more than I feel that online instruction will completely replace face-to-face instruction (but that's another topic altogether!). Like most things in life, it's not either/or but both/and. I love the synergy that goes on when people get to talking and the ideas start flowing, and I don't want to lose that. But, I do see that blogs have some advantages:
1. They broaden the audience. We all know shy people who will never speak up in class, but these same people might be willing to express their thoughts in a blog. Blogs also broaden the audience by opening the conversation up to people who were not in class that day and, possibly, to people in cyberspace.
2. They deepen the response. When engaged in a conversation (like ones I have with y'all), I don't always have the time to think through what I'm going to say. When I'm writing, however, I think it through more thoroughly and choose my words more carefully.
3. They provide a record. With blogs, you can always go back and read what others said or what you said. I don't know how many times I've pulled up an e-mail I saved in order to refresh my memory. That's kind of hard to do with a face-to-face conversation - especially if you're as forgetful as I am!
4. They expand the time. We're all so pushed with the things we have to cover in our limited time in class. When we can move the discussion outside of class - either in assignments where people are expected to post to a blog or in thoughts we just want them to read or think about - this eases the time crunch a bit. Of course, they may see this as just another homework assignment - but kids get more enthusiastic about blogging than about writing a paper, guaranteed!
If I keep going, I won't have anything to talk about Saturday morning! I'll hush now and let you post your comments.
The question has come up - why are we moving away from face-to-face conversation and to something more distant, like blogging? (Michele, I hope I'm paraphrasing your question properly.) Shouldn't we be encouraging students to talk with each other more?
I don't feel that blogging will completely take the place of talking to each other, any more than I feel that online instruction will completely replace face-to-face instruction (but that's another topic altogether!). Like most things in life, it's not either/or but both/and. I love the synergy that goes on when people get to talking and the ideas start flowing, and I don't want to lose that. But, I do see that blogs have some advantages:
1. They broaden the audience. We all know shy people who will never speak up in class, but these same people might be willing to express their thoughts in a blog. Blogs also broaden the audience by opening the conversation up to people who were not in class that day and, possibly, to people in cyberspace.
2. They deepen the response. When engaged in a conversation (like ones I have with y'all), I don't always have the time to think through what I'm going to say. When I'm writing, however, I think it through more thoroughly and choose my words more carefully.
3. They provide a record. With blogs, you can always go back and read what others said or what you said. I don't know how many times I've pulled up an e-mail I saved in order to refresh my memory. That's kind of hard to do with a face-to-face conversation - especially if you're as forgetful as I am!
4. They expand the time. We're all so pushed with the things we have to cover in our limited time in class. When we can move the discussion outside of class - either in assignments where people are expected to post to a blog or in thoughts we just want them to read or think about - this eases the time crunch a bit. Of course, they may see this as just another homework assignment - but kids get more enthusiastic about blogging than about writing a paper, guaranteed!
If I keep going, I won't have anything to talk about Saturday morning! I'll hush now and let you post your comments.
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