If you are wondering about why we should be blogging then this post on the Value of Blogging from Christine Kerley’s blog makes interesting reading. Admittedly the group she has surveyed is in the marketting area, (some would say schools do this anyway 🙂 ), but most of the perspectives rang a bell with me anyway. As Christine said:
“I asked you one question. A BIG one: What is the single greatest point of value you receive from blogging? I sought the single, the uber, the most rewarding, robust and important point of value you receive from embracing these tools and investing your time.”
The results are presented in a pdf quilt form which in itself is an interesting way of representing data.
I particularly like the breadth of the responses many of which struck a chord with me. They go well beyond simple communication extending into what we teachers might euphamistically call the thinking curriculum. They also pay reference to the recently emergent paradigm of connectivism. For myself, I really enjoy the learning that I do by reading and connecting via other’s blogs that leads into further learning as I try to make sense of it in making posts such as this. For my students I particularly like the way that blogging serves to identify and further refine the “voice” of these emergent writers.
I would love to know what other educator bloggers see as the single greatest point of value in their’s or their students blogging? As an exercise in Web 2.0 I have added a page to this blog titled “why teachers blog” At the top of this page is a Gliffy Diagram. Below the diagram is some discussion of the Gliffy blocks. Why not add a block of your own by adding a Comment below. Alternatively send an email to my email address at jpearce(at)pipeline(dot)com, [replace the (at) and (dot)] and I can send you the link to the Gliffy diagram and you can add your own block.
My Other Blog 
I just finished reading a book titled the Spider and the Starfish, which focuses on the role of catalysts in decentralized organizations. A blogger is a catalyst and the people who visit his/her blog are a network. As these people reach out through their own blogs, they connect one network with another. Yet, there is no central leader telling everyone what to write about, or what blogs to read.
At http://tutormentor.blogspot.com and at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org you can see that I’m trying to build a knowledge network, consisting of bloggers, leaders, volunteers, and anyone else who is interested in helping kids living in high poverty neighborhoods of big cities get more of the daily help they need to move through school and into jobs and careers.
This is using blogs for a purpose. Because the ideas are abstract, I use graphics, maps, and drawings to illustrate the many places where good programs are needed, and the many years it takes for a village to raise its kids. My goal is that this network of bloggers each takes a role in getting, and keeping, public and private sector attention focused on volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs for many, many years.
Since many educators visit your blog, I hope they will introduce people involved in tutoring/mentoring, volunteerism, service-learning, etc. to the blog and help me expand this network.
Hi John,
I don’t think I can manage to slim it down to one.
My blog is a Playground and links me to a Community.
I hope my children get Audience and Purpose.
I play with technology and test out things for the classroom and gain a community of friends interested in some of the same ideas as myself.
The children gain pride and hopefully sharpen up their work knowing it is for a worldwide audience, I hope over the years this will build from purpose to community with other learners from around the world.