"It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change"
– Charles Darwin, courtesy of Will Richardson’s wiki

I was taken by this quote because it’s true of every aspect of our lives-- change is inevitable. Like it or not, we must embrace it. Web 2.0 has the power not only to change our teaching, but also to change our learning about teaching, our professional development.

LOTS to think about this week while exploring blogging and blogs for professional deveopment.

So, what kinds of 'pro d' opportunities exist for teachers and teacher librarians who read, follow and comment on blogs?

In a nutshell, communication, interaction and collaboration like never before!

Miguel Guelin sums it up well when discussing blogs in education on his wiki, Blog Your World!. He states: “Blogs Enable Professional Development Networks” (or) blog-based personal learning network(s). This type of network—taking advantage of blogs and RSS feeds—allows us to tap into people that we would not otherwise have contact with”. He goes on to describe that “Personal learning networks give us access to varied information sources, and, more importantly, to people whom we can ask questions of, provide us with coaching and mentoring, as well as challenge or extend our thinking (Source: David Tobin at http://www.tobincls.com/learningnetwork.htm).”
Access to a variety of free, up-to-date content, coaching, mentoring and discussion with seasoned experts--all possible with the use of blogs.

Some of the blogs I’ve been following as part of my “personal learning network”:

Doug Johnson – The Blue Skunk Blog (Teacher and “Director of Media and Technology for the Mankato (MN) Public Schools")
David Warlick - 2 cents worth (Educator, author and operator of the “Landmark Project”)
Vicki Davis – The Cool Cat Teacher Blog (Teacher and ed tech supporter)
Will Richardson - Weblogg-ed (Educator, author and presenter)

JudyO’Connell - Hey Jude (Educational consultant - library and web 2.0)
Joyce Valenza - The Never Ending Search (Teacher Librarian)

Now, how to convince colleagues to follow some of these blogs?

Start small, take baby steps, make it familiar and connect to what they already know (where have I heard this before…?)
For my librarian friends, I’d introduce them to Joyce Valenza’s blog, specifically the Oct 2/08 post about “Wordle meets Dewey”, using the tool "wordle" to create dewey signs for the library. Simple and relevant—something they could immediately latch onto and use without extensive effort. I think this would set the hook…


Wordle

For my primary teacher friends, I’d direct them to the Primary Web 2.0 wiki that contains links to blogs created by primary teachers who blog themselves as well as with their students. Choose any one and feel overwhelmingly inspired by what students and teachers are creating. I’d focus on this blog by a grade 1 class in New Zealand to show a global, collaborative effort called the “Peace Quilt” project.

For both groups, a mandatory viewing of the YouTube video "A Vision of K-12 Students Today" would be required before any explanation of the above. As professionals dedicated to educating our youth, it's impossible not to grasp that change is needed in our teaching, as well as in our professional learning, after viewing this short, powerful clip.
Blogs as part of professional development is a good, big step in the right direction.


What pro d opportunities exist for educators who are blogging?

Again, in a nutshell, sharing of information and personal reflection.

For me, the best experience of blogging has been the chance to reflect on my learning and share my thoughts, feelings, frustrations with others. This is consistent with a principle of professional development in my district that states professional development “...encourages and supports educators working together to reflect on their practice.”
Blogging does just that. It’s an opportunity to really think about learning, share these thoughts, and to imagine how it’s going to impact your personal and professional life. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to become a creator of information, not just a consumer, and to offer this information to others. Something we as educators need to focus on in this digital information age. (Richardson, p 136 of Blogs Wikis Podcasts..., 2009)

Once more, how to convince others of this?

Promote/encourage reading of blogs! Start with “edublog” which “is dedicated to helping educational bloggers with emerging technologies in education." This post, What Would You Say about Blogging?, created by Aussie Sue Waters, is a perfect example of 'active' collaboration in action. She asks other edubloggers for advice to give a colleague on a presentation about blogging to administrators. Water’s suggests: “… we could use this post to demonstrates how blogs connect us to a global audience where we can engage in conversations that lead to more ideas and greater innovation than each of us working individually.” The results? Wonderful advice given and really useful links from a large community of professionals. What I found comforting, especially being a newbie in this environment, is the relaxed, non-technical nature of the conversation. Just people (albeit with a very wide range of expertise and spread thousands of miles apart) offering help and exchanging their learning in a non-threatening, casual atmosphere.
Another great resource, obtained courtesy of Will Richardson’s blog,
is the wiki Support Blogging that contains links to a huge variety of educational blogs, answers questions about why blog in education and has tons of resources (videos, podcasts, links to conferences etc).
It’s hard to be unconvinced and unenthused after viewing this site and seeing firsthand how teachers are collaborating and connecting all over the globe.

Does this change the kinds of professional development that schools offer?

I believe it can and it should. It won't totally replace the conferences, guest speakers, meetings and workshops, but it will greatly enhance these experiences and enable follow up (an incredibly extended question and answer!) and feedback like never before.

“It's been a long, a long time coming but I know
A change gon' come…”
Sam Cooke, 1963