Blogging reluctantly
by underscore
In the September/October 2004 EDUCAUSE Review, Stephen Downes said that “Blogging is about, first, reading…. If a student has nothing to blog about… it is because the student has not yet stretched out to the larger world, has not yet learned to meaningfully engage in a community.”
I’m wondering if he didn’t skip a point here. Could it be that the student is not comfortable casting his/her thoughts out to all comers? Could it be that the student is selective about his/her audience?
No disrespect to Mr. Downes; his overall point is that blogging is about engaging with content in a meaningful way, and I get that and agree with it, up to a point. But, particularly in the life of a relatively young person (21 and under), I submit that there is value in mastering the face-to-face interaction before resorting to the cyber interaction.
I’m much influenced by the book Alone Together by Sherry Turkle, who is a psychologist studying human interaction with computers. She has documented the increasing reluctance of young people to have conversations when they can text instead. Even email is too involved (and too slow) for this generation.
The nod of the head, the tilt of the eyebrow, the wrinkling of the forehead– these things have meaning face to face, but you have to learn to read them. And I am concerned that we are raising generations of folks who are interpersonal cripples. That may be overstating the case, but nonverbal communication is key to the development and display of things like empathy and altruism, which have been survival traits for the human race. I’m not saying that blogging makes a blogger an automaton, but I am saying that it needs to be a tool in the box, not a replacement for the box.
cogitationi 
“…but I am saying that it needs to be a tool in the box, not a replacement for the box.”
Concur…but if it is to be one of our (and our students’) tools, then how do we most effectively use it?
Very interesting points. I think you hit it spot on when you said “Could it be that the student is not comfortable casting his/her thoughts to all comers?” Many students are not comfortable sharing their ideas or thoughts freely even anonymously on blog for a class. They share plenty of things freely on Facebook and twitter, but when it comes to academics its different. The key is finding a way to make the students want to blog and share ideas and not to feel forced to do so.
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One of the most challenging aspects about blogging is the fact that many individuals are “thrown into” blogging by being asked to write a blog with little or no experience. Although I have blogged for less than 6 months, I can say without reservation that the first several blogs were the most difficult to compose. A classmate with significantly more experience as a blogger suggested that the blogging culture consists of reading a wide variety of blogs before commenting. When comfortable, commenting should occur and then actually blogging will follow. Scaffolding is very important in all areas of learning and delivery of instruction. “Casting your thoughts” may become easier to accomplish after comments are followed by a reply from the writer of the blog. I am blogging in a “quad blog” arena for the MOOC that I am taking. It helps to have a few individuals with whom to correspond. A succession of small successes can lead to greater comfort in placing one’s ideas out into the great unknown!
Ah, but what is success?