Blogging, writing and creating

Blogging, writing and creating
by Harold Jarche | Sun, 11/02/2008 - 21:04

In Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, Lawrence Lessig, referring to writing, states that, "Creating is a responsibility. Only by practicing it can you learn." Later he talks about blogging, "A culture filled with bloggers thinks differently about politics or public affairs, if only because more have been forced through the discipline of showing in writing why A leads to B."

I would call this a clear message to our educational institutions on why more students should be blogging. It is one way of improving literacy in this digital age. The power of blogging is that the writer has a real, worldwide audience but (and this is critical) this cannot be faked through some assignment done on the school Intranet that no one sees.

Only by practicing real writing can students learn to write. Blogs are real because they connect to real people. The feedback and comments are real. To keep it real, teachers must use the gentle hand I referred to in my last post. Blogs are not the place for criterion-referenced assignments that ask for 250 words on the book you read in class. Blogs are flow and practice.

Using blogs in an open and non-critical manner is an opportunity for educators to step out from behind the firewall and help their students connect in meaningful dialogue with the rest of the world. Students who are able to engage the world beyond the school have the potential to become much better informed and involved citizens. Why not start now?

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