Just received another comment from my colleague, Mick Prest. Mick has a hobbie – it involves a laptop (Mac I think!) and a variety of gadgets that can be plugged into, added onto or just connected to it.(I think he leaves one hand free to hold a glass of red wine….but not during working hours!).
He encouraged me to start a blog just over 12 months ago. While a blog connects you to the global community, it has been through my interaction with Mick (in person) that has kept me going with the blog. His enthusiasm for all things ICT is catchy. Many times he has suggested sites to go to, blogs to read, and shown me gadgets that have many possibilities when working with teachers. And it doesn’t matter how dumb the question I ask is, he always has the time to answer it. So big thanks Mick!
I have also valued the feedback about my blog from other colleagues….. Nicole from Parramatta CEO (great meeting you last week!), Danny (we miss you!), Andrew (good luck this week!), Maria (shoe queen) and the many teachers I work with.
But here’s the weird thing. Most of the feedback is done face-to-face! Very little is actually communicated via the blog!! What does this day about how I use the blog or our preferred communication modes?
Dunno. Weird!
(Thanks for the tip about Tag Gallery, Danny. I finally worked out how to use it. Doh!)
Congratulations on keeping the blog going, I am sure it is read more widely than you think, it takes a while for people to comment, innate digital shyness I think. Comments can’t carry the smile or body language that personal communication can, maybe that’s why we’re not so comfortable with it. As it gets better known by those further afield the comments will come.
Thanks for your encouragement Diane. It took me a while to get over the fear of writing for an unknown, global audience but the positive feedback (in person!) has motivated me to continue. I suppose my next step is to use this blog more purposefullly for this type of interaction you and I are having……..I enjoy hearing what you have to say at our elearning meetings……good to see another woman on board!
How could I not respond!! I like what we are all doing and I think your reflections on the combination of cloud and ftf reflects a reality that is often overlooked, particularly when we try to bring the “resisters” on board! There are lots of people (and we all probably read them regularly with interest) who have a really significant online presence and I find my interaction with them and their ideas really important. However, I am regularly struck by the need to maintain ftf networks especially when we are trying to support change – I hesitate to say that this is the “real” world but it sort of is!!! Maybe when our bandwidth improves and we become more able to link ftf and online it will change but I reckon your unease is a healthy tension!
Man! You can certainly write well Mick! I feel like submitting your reply to your PPPR person!!!!! Collegial networks via collaboration is definitely VIP as part of the change process. (Couldn’t have done this blog without you!!!)….as for the real world…I was at a school the other day…enthusiastic teachers who took up my suggestion of using a blog in the classroom …..only to find that their staff computers were exceptionally slow and basically, we had to abandon creating a blog! Bandwidth is a REAL issue. If DET are giving their teachers laptops……why can’t we?……..
Hey there. The weeks been good.
I think teaching is relational as is learning. Relationships are important – and with it comes trust. There’s also the fact that writing something can be more dangerous than talking, as nuances aren’t as easily conveyed.
I often wonder who reads my blog and what they’re thinking. I also feel somewhat vunerable out there in saying things because my ideas and thoughts get shaped through interactions with others. I wish others would give some inkling as to how they respond to my blog entires – i guess that’s like reading body language and checking out with others what makes sense.
Talk soon!!!!
Good to hear from you Andrew! I think you are spot-on! Writing is certainly more permanent and decontextualised, unlike personal interaction. Writing on a blog can be a bit confrontational as you don’t who the audience is or how they will react. Would love to talk soon ……….in a social setting…………..