With the abundance of online communities and tools now available to all of us there has been a lot of conversation lately of how people use these tools, for what purpose. The conversations have mentioned the fact some are seen as using these tools for self promotion, followings, name recognition, which I admit I believe some people do, but this is no different than what happens in our day to day, face to face lives, is it? We all have the same ability online, as we do face to face, we may chose to ignore what we find offensive, or follow along, either way the choice remains with the individual.
I am, as Sue Waters used to describe herself, a reluctant blogger. I am not skilled in writing, and it is something that does not come easily to me. I feel blogging is a means of reflection, having an opportunity to talk out loud, and maybe have someone listen, and respond who is interested in the same topic, is experiencing something similar or have an opinion on. We are all attracted to content for varying reasons, we are all attracted to different writing styles as well. What matters is this, I have a mechanism to write, publish, and possibly engage in conversations that would not be available to me otherwise. In order for those opportunities to present themselves to me, I also understand I have to make the effort to do the same thing with others, to be a good virtual citizen as well. Making connections, participating in conversations, extending myself beyond my blog to cultivate relationships – just as I do in my life everyday.
I believe we all contribute, we all have a voice and we all make a difference, although not everyone’s contribution and or difference may not be evident through a blog or online. For me my contributions to the greater good may not be through this blog, but I feel my participation in OpenPD with Darren Draper, the presentations we have done together about our experiences in providing professional development in a way not possible before now, have been important, have made an impact on those who attended the classes and the presentations. I know too I make a difference in my district; I am able to learn from those in my network and in turn share that knowledge with those I interact with face-to-face everyday. My contributions may seem small to others, but it is relative, the contributions I make where I work may never be seen by others in the online world I participate in, but that doesn’t mean they do not exist, or I do not matter either. I believe the words on this image apply to all of us,”There are some things we cannot do on our own” and “a strong and cohesive sense of community is essential to expanding opportunity to all of us”, maybe EdubloggerCon in San Antonio will be a time for all of us to talk about our sense of community.
Flickr Image Source user opportunity agenda
Your contributions are huge. And it was so good to see a familiar, smiling face in Philly at EduCon last winter! Thanks for Open PD and all you and Darren do.
Susan I agree, it was great to see familiar smiling faces at EduCon, and I hope to see more at NECC. We all contribute to the online learning communities we participate in. Thanks for the comment.
This whole writing blogging issue is interesting and is something I pointed out on Clay Burell’s tweetcloud post.
This is what I said:
It may surprise you (but not really as we have sort of talked about this before) that language (both written and spoken) is a constant struggle for me. Which is probably even more amazing since I’m a blogger. Interpreting the true meaning of what is really being said for me is like being in a battle zone which is why I are well known to miss the punchlines. But people don’t realise this is why because unless you have this problem you don’t appreciate the constant struggle. Language seems so easy so how could it be so hard for some?
What makes me angry is how people confuse online presence with ability and what a person has to offer. Each and everyone of us as you said is contributing, and many of us contribute without anyone knowing what we are doing. Just because a person doesn’t make a big song and dance doesn’t make their work of no value.
I know of people who spend a lot of time visiting student blogs around the world and writing comments to encourage them. Similarly others do that for new adult bloggers. I remember once a person once implied that I wasn’t worth networking with because I have no web presence.
Keep doing what you are doing! The work you do does matter!
As you mention above, I also find that I blog for the opportunity to reflect on thoughts that are messing about in my head. It can be a solitary activity (for me) where I make notes of these thoughts. This pulls these thoughts together into some coherence and allows a new round of reflection. It gives me the opportunity to rehearse arguments so that when I need to plead my case later, I have had time to at least come up with answers to some of the counter-arguments.
Like so many people, I feel that I am not very good at articulating my thoughts through writing. Your post above had a great flow and fluency to it which I would like to be able to match, especially without re-writing everything 2 or 3 times!
I have found that some of the most useful times though have been when people have replied to posts that I have made and I have entered into a conversation. That tended to be when I was posting as a member of a community with a ready made audience and it happens less so when I’m writing in my own blog. I guess that there are so many blogs and we all have only so many words to go round!
The “thinking aloud” you speak of, the reflecting openly, is what I enjoyed about blogging from the start. I did that for a good six months of little to no comments as the norm.
As Sue says, it’s still what counts. The rest, the popularity contest and all, is sort of tiresome and feeling old.
The handful of people I’ve connected with (like you have with Darren, it seems) in ways that have changed my practice and brought me professional friendship are more important than any stats.
Stats are fun, but mostly unreliable anyway. Why give so much credit to a Google search hit?
The main thing is: does the writing and tweeting and reading fulfill you? If so, it’s all good. Seems that way to me, anyway.
This post is so encouraging for newbies like me who aren’t “writers” but have the feeling that, as teachers, we are expected to be exceptional at it. I don’t believe there should be rules for blogging – rules create limits and who knows where this is all leading, that we should do it this way or that way. I don’t have a blog (my class has)but I really enjoy commenting. Others use language to express my thoughts so much better : )
I agree with your take on online presence. All the people whose blogs are in my my RSS reader contribute largely in my ability to learn, share and have discussions at work about the new tools available for students these days. No-one can see that I’m doing this and most don’t know how their blogs contribute but the word is spreading about these tools. That’s one reason, I suppose, why people blog and share – to help anyone in any way they can.
No one would never know you struggled with either written or spoken word Sue. I plan on continuing with all of the things I do, and I also plan to follow through with the suggestion you gave during OpenPD when we had our conversations about blogging.
I think the lack of face to face communication at times is challenging, we are so used to seeing immediately how what we say or do is received by those we are in contact with. In the online environment if you are looking for the same type of interaction it is harder to come by, but it doesn’t mean no one notices. Thanks for the kind words and support.
Isn’t it amazing that so many felt the stinging blow of the criticisms passed on by one or two? Is that guilt? Or is it something personal? I will admit that I clamored to see the very people I see in my networks at conferences–actually arranged my session schedule around when and where they were presenting. So I think their self promotion worked for me, and I fell prey to being a groupie of sorts I guess. But that stinging slap still smarts, and I can think of one or two that I am definitely backing away from in following in social networks AND at the big conferences. It’s sad, but I lost a huge amount of respect for a couple I used to check daily to see what they were up to, either thru their blogs, delicious accnts, flickr sets, twitter, and more. But not now. I suppose they have made me hugely reflective in my own social networking practices too, and made it abundantly clear that even though they did not feel they were in a big cocktail party, they made it abundantly clear that i was not welcome to tag along or try to participate. Yep, the hand still stings with red, and now I feel gunshy about participating in several areas I used to have a lot of comfort and willingness in. But I can appreciate your candor here. Thanks for sharing.
Robin, I actually think that in my case, blogging has probably over-magnified my actual achievements! I get some kudos from people for being a reasonably coherent writer and maybe there’s some novelty in being the bloke from down under so this whole idea about edublogger celebrity is entirely the wrong direction to be heading. I get where Cathy is coming from in terms of wanting to reach out to the powerful influences in our online network – it’s an entirely human response and it hurts when the enthusiasm is not reciprocated. (Not that it will make anyone feel better but remember us Aussies will probably never meet any of their important links in person!) Another way of looking at this issue of writing quality is that substance will beat style anytime. Sometimes being a “gifted writer” means too much of the latter while the blogger who has to work harder with their words will achieve the former.
@Nigel, I agree with you. When I write about something I am working through, trying to promote with those I work with, the writing helps me pull those thoughts together. And as you many times I write and rewrite before I post. The conversations are most helpful, thank you for your thoughts.
@Clay Burell, You are right, the professional friendship established are more important than any stats in my book and they have all stretched my thinking and enabled me to learn so much. The contacts also have assisted me in making classroom connections with others for the teachers I work with, something that without the online communties would have been much harder to establish. Yes, I do feel the the writing, reading and tweeting do add a great deal to my professional practice. Thanks for your comments Clay.
@Grace – Yes, it is about helping anyone anyway you can and for many that help comes through their RSS reader from those they read. Commenting on others blogs is as important as writing your own. I believe reading and commenting is a wonderful way to start, it gives us all a better understanding of what blogging is all about. There are so many who are so much more experienced than I, we all have different areas of expertise. I hope to improve my writing as I move forward on this blog. Thanks for your time.
@Cathy I do honestly believe the words on the image in this post – “There are some things we cannot do on our own” and “a strong and cohesive sense of community is essential to expanding opportunity to all of”. I feel we are all in this together, and as a result of our ability to be connected 24/7/365 we are bound to get on each others nerves sometimes.
We all are a part of this big community, something new, we are all experimenting, trying to figure out how we fit, and also for me, how I can explain it and pass along the value to those I work with. I struggle when it appears people are jockeying for position, the same struggle I experience in my everyday life with people face to face. I am not looking for recognition, and that’s what this post is about. I don’t think anyone should be in this for self recognition or promotion, those characteristics breed competition. I believe we are stronger together than we are alone, so lets try to leverage the strength of many, not a few.
@Graham I believe your advice about substance over style is right on. I think I have to look at blogging as sharing what I do, what I am thinking, the successes and challenges faced, rather than my writing skills being critically reviewing. Others have said blogging has helped them become better writers, hopefully that will be the result in my case as well. Thank you for your thoughts. Personally, I do not believe blogging has over magnified any of your achievements!