Program for Online Teaching pre-session notes

Constance Kassor tweeted: “Sad to have missed out on the #potcert meeting in Collaborate today. Can any fellow potcert-ers sum it up in a few tweets?”

I started to tweet a reply, but decided I’m too inexperienced with twitter to do that much with confidence – no chance to edit.  Then I realized I could do it as a blog entry.  So with that bias admitted: here’s my recollection of our pre-potcert session today on “Why do we blog?”

(not chronological)

Alan (cogdog): blogs need to be freed from dry, academic language – trying to get that through to #ds106 participants

Ted: blogger’s voice needs to come through

discussion: voice v.s. true self, “I have many voices but only one true self” (can’t remember who said that)

Lisa: blogs can be photos, don’t need lots of words

Xavier: blogs are part of course requirements

Todd: multiple blogs for different purposes (others also) curation, journaling, reflection, documentation, portfolio

discussion: having fun, Dracula diary blog, recipe blog safe & non-controversial unless calling for sautéed Manatee

me & Pilar: blogs are less fleeting & temporary than FB & tweets, so we take them more seriously, take much more time to write them

Lisa & others: need to encourage editing – blogs more pliable than tweets & FB because the latter are sent and gone with no ability to retract (but I know I have edited FB posts – note to self, check membership renewal for AR club)

Jenny M: also invests a lot of time in writing blog posts, careful redaction before publishing

Jason (I think): blogs from dept. head more likely to be scrutinized – conscious of the image projected

Jenny M: shy beginning bloggers may need more structured tasks to help them get started – potcert offers that

There was, of course, much more.  These are the bits that still stick in my brain 8 hours later.  I may have taken creative licence with some details.  Todd said he would post the recording of the session, so expect to find it soon on http://pedagogyfirst.org/wppf12/ and build your own neuron pathways.

I’d like to add that serious blogs can make an impact.  Audrey Watters’ recent “The real reason I dropped out of a PhD program” (retweeted today by Tom Fullerton) touched me deeply.  I’ll read Hack Education blog in a different way from now on.