Monday, March 10, 2008
Potential Bibloigraphy
From Virtual Public Spheres to Global Justice: A Critical Theory of Internetworked Social Movements
Lauren Langman
Sociological Theory, Vol. 23, No. 1. (Mar., 2005), pp. 42-74.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0735-2751%28200503%2923%3A1%3C42%3AFVPSTG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9
Abstract
From the early 1990s when the EZLN (the Zapatistas), led by Subcommandte Marcos, first made use of the Internet to the late 1990s with the defeat of the Multilateral Agreement on Trade and Investment and the anti-WTO protests in Seattle, Quebec, and Genoa, it became evident that new, qualitatively different kinds of social protest movements were emergent. These new movements seemed diffuse and unstructured, yet at the same time, they forged unlikely coalitions of labor, environmentalists, feminists, peace, and global social justice activists collectively critical of the adversities of neoliberal globalization and its associated militarism. Moreover, the rapid emergence and worldwide proliferation of these movements, organized and coordinated through the Internet, raised a number of questions that require rethinking social movement theory. Specifically, the electronic networks that made contemporary globalization possible also led to the emergence of "virtual public spheres" and, in turn, "Internetworked Social Movements." Social movement theory has typically focused on local structures, leadership, recruitment, political opportunities, and strategies from framing issues to orchestrating protests. While this tradition still offers valuable insights, we need to examine unique aspects of globalization that prompt such mobilizations, as well as their democratic methods of participatory organization and clever use of electronic media. Moreover, their emancipatory interests become obscured by the "objective" methods of social science whose "neutrality" belies a tacit assent to the status quo. It will be argued that the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory offers a multi-level, multi-disciplinary approach that considers the role of literacy and media in fostering modernist bourgeois movements as well as anti- modernist fascist movements. This theoretical tradition offers a contemporary framework in which legitimacy crises are discussed and participants arrive at consensual truth claims; in this process, new forms of empowered, activist identities are fostered and negotiated that impel cyber activism.
©2000-2008 JSTOR
Potential Bibliography
1)Student Blogs Mark a New Frontier for School DisciplineFind More Like This
Author(s):
Kirby, Elizabeth; Kallio, Brenda
Source:
Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, v72 n5 p16-23 Jan 2007. 8 pp.
ISSN:00
2)Perlmutter, David D.
Source:
Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, v72 n2 p25-32 Oct 2006. 8 pp.
ISSN:
0013-127X
Descriptors:
Information Sources, Elections, Political Campaigns, Internet, Web Sites, Hypermedia, Electronic Publishing, Mass Media Effects, Mass Media Use, Agenda Setting, Higher Education
Abstract:
In this article, the author examines the role blogs will play in future campaigns and elections and how bloggers will affect the election of the next commander in chief. A necessary starting point in discussing the role of blogs in the presidential election of 2008 is to consider how similar blogs are, as a new medium or genre or venue, to traditional components of presidential politics. The following themes are covered: (1) blogs as the new "first in the nation" testing ground; (2) bloggers' inability to convince voters from different backgrounds; (3) blogs as fund-raising machines; (4) blog posts as campaign literature; (5) blogs as "meet the candidate" get-togethers; (6) bloggers as political operatives; (7) blogs as campaign rallies; (8) blogs as television ads; and (9) blogs as talk radio. Despite the dangers to candidates in embracing blogging too fully, blogging is now part of our political campaigns, elections, and public affairs debates; although the future is unknown, it will not be unblogged.
3)The Rise of Blog NationFind More Like This
Author(s):
Lum, Lydia
Source:
Black Issues in Higher Education, v22 n12 p20-22 Jul 2005. 3 pp.
ISSN:
0742-0277
Descriptors:
Credentials, Journalism Education, Popular Culture, Programming (Broadcast), News Reporting, Peer Acceptance, News Media, Web Sites, Computer Mediated Communication, African Americans, Higher Education
Abstract:
This article reports on the growth of blogs in popular culture, and the fact that they are becoming more widely accepted in the media industry. The rise and popularity of blogs--short for "Web logs"--are causing journalism educators to overhaul their teachings. In fact, blogging's influence varies from one university program to the next, just like it varies among different publications in the country. Despite their rising popularity, blogs still have only a fraction of the impact on the curriculum that convergence does. Convergence is the cross-training of students to specialize in one medium such as broadcast or print, while learning basic skills in other media. In a historic move, some bloggers were issued media credentials to cover the 2004 national Democratic and Republican conventions. Whereas bloggers initially were people who had no voice in the established media, their writings are gaining more respect and increasingly driving news coverage. More and more newspapers and magazines are adding blogs to their Web sites.
4)
Author(s):
Kirby, Elizabeth; Kallio, Brenda
Source:
Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, v72 n5 p16-23 Jan 2007. 8 pp.
ISSN:00
2)Perlmutter, David D.
Source:
Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, v72 n2 p25-32 Oct 2006. 8 pp.
ISSN:
0013-127X
Descriptors:
Information Sources, Elections, Political Campaigns, Internet, Web Sites, Hypermedia, Electronic Publishing, Mass Media Effects, Mass Media Use, Agenda Setting, Higher Education
Abstract:
In this article, the author examines the role blogs will play in future campaigns and elections and how bloggers will affect the election of the next commander in chief. A necessary starting point in discussing the role of blogs in the presidential election of 2008 is to consider how similar blogs are, as a new medium or genre or venue, to traditional components of presidential politics. The following themes are covered: (1) blogs as the new "first in the nation" testing ground; (2) bloggers' inability to convince voters from different backgrounds; (3) blogs as fund-raising machines; (4) blog posts as campaign literature; (5) blogs as "meet the candidate" get-togethers; (6) bloggers as political operatives; (7) blogs as campaign rallies; (8) blogs as television ads; and (9) blogs as talk radio. Despite the dangers to candidates in embracing blogging too fully, blogging is now part of our political campaigns, elections, and public affairs debates; although the future is unknown, it will not be unblogged.
3)The Rise of Blog NationFind More Like This
Author(s):
Lum, Lydia
Source:
Black Issues in Higher Education, v22 n12 p20-22 Jul 2005. 3 pp.
ISSN:
0742-0277
Descriptors:
Credentials, Journalism Education, Popular Culture, Programming (Broadcast), News Reporting, Peer Acceptance, News Media, Web Sites, Computer Mediated Communication, African Americans, Higher Education
Abstract:
This article reports on the growth of blogs in popular culture, and the fact that they are becoming more widely accepted in the media industry. The rise and popularity of blogs--short for "Web logs"--are causing journalism educators to overhaul their teachings. In fact, blogging's influence varies from one university program to the next, just like it varies among different publications in the country. Despite their rising popularity, blogs still have only a fraction of the impact on the curriculum that convergence does. Convergence is the cross-training of students to specialize in one medium such as broadcast or print, while learning basic skills in other media. In a historic move, some bloggers were issued media credentials to cover the 2004 national Democratic and Republican conventions. Whereas bloggers initially were people who had no voice in the established media, their writings are gaining more respect and increasingly driving news coverage. More and more newspapers and magazines are adding blogs to their Web sites.
4)
The passion behind creating blogs...the same passion that created unions??
Title:
Blog Overload By: Dawson, Kara M., Chronicle of Higher Education, 20070202, Vol. 53, Issue 22
Database:
ERIC
Blog Overload
Section: Careers
First Person
An associate professor and devoted reader of blogs finds that requiring students to create one produced the wrong kind of buzz
I HAVE A FRIEND whose personal blog about her plight with breast cancer as a stay-at-home mother of two led to her job as an official blogger with the Cancer Blog. She majored in journalism. I have a colleague whose blog about the potential of social software in teaching and learning has attracted international recognition among edu-bloggers. He is a former English teacher.
Sure, blogs have changed the face of communication, and brought new opportunities, new relationships, new forms of recognition, and even new earning potential to many people. But not to everyone.
Certainly not to my two classes of graduate students. They ended the fall semester blogged down and blogged out. In the past, when I had required students to write blog postings in my courses, the assignment was at least a novelty. But last semester, it just seemed a snore.
In some courses, I use a single blog on which all students are expected to post comments. In other classes, I require students to create individual blogs and to visit their fellow students' blogs through RSS feeds. Typically I expect students to write at least one posting a week and to comment on several others' blogs. Sometimes I require students to post on a particular topic, and sometimes I leave it open-ended. Whatever the approach, I found last semester that many students fell victim to blog overload.
I began to feel overloaded, too.
Don't get me wrong. I love blogs. I have my RSS feeds set to a number of blogs that help me stay current on personal and professional interests. But the key difference is that I am not forced to read any of those blogs. None of them were created because of someone else's course requirement.
Frankly, the blog postings I required my students to write were just not very interesting. Those students are bright, insightful, frequently opinionated, and, as a whole, a pleasure to be around. Their blogs were not.
With few exceptions, the blogs would sit inactive until about 24 hours before our face-to-face class meetings (or 24 hours before the assignments were due in my online class), when a flurry of posts and comments would erupt.
Then I would spend an excessive amount of time reading and commenting in the hours before class. Some students did the same, while others didn't bother to comment at all. Effective teaching and learning? I think not.
I have been using blogs for about seven semesters. On average, out of a class of 25 students, two to three post to their blogs once the course ends. Most of those who continue post personal vendettas, funny stories, or links to personally relevant resources. Their blogs have a known audience, such as family members or a group of interested colleagues. Few have readership outside the students' face-to-face network.
So I admit it. I got caught up in all the hype about blogs--about their potential for communication, for creating global connections, for expressing oneself, for extending face-to-face discussions, and for building community in online environments. In most cases, my initial excitement has not borne fruit.
I don't fault my students. I am the instructor. And given my background in pedagogy and education, I should be a good leader. But when it comes to blogs, I have not been.
Still, I am not going to give up on blogs. What I am going to do is become a much more critical user. And so I offer some thoughts as I prepare to revamp the integration of blogs in my courses.
Keep a blog yourself. I have a blog. I just don't use it. I am too busy reading other people's blogs, responding to student postings, and writing for outlets that may one day secure me a full professorship. How can I expect my students to devote time to something that I don't find important enough to do myself? So if you're going to require students to create a blog, you should probably have an active one, too.
Recognize individual learning styles and preferences. I find it funny that I would have to remind myself of that, given that I am expert in pedagogy. Before blogs came along, I offered my students multiple options for demonstrating their knowledge. Some created concept maps, others audio-recorded their thoughts (prior to podcasts), many kept individual journals, and others created movies or presentations. All students were responsible for demonstrating their interaction with class content from week to week and sharing the results. In retrospect, that is not such a bad plan. I can simply offer blogs as another possible option.
Encourage bloggers to produce more than just text. When I included a requirement that all students integrate at least three forms of multimedia in their blogs by the end of the semester, I envisioned creations like podcasts and Gliffy concept maps. What I got was links to YouTube videos and pre-existing podcasts and images.
Clearly, the use of blogs has unintentionally decreased the way my students interact with course content. I need to recognize that. I need to be more explicit in my expectations for the use of blogs.
Recognize the nature of the beast. The most effective blogs provide important and cutting-edge information (e.g., Tech Crunch; see http://www.techcrunch.com), communicate deeply personal experiences through narrative (e.g., the Cancer Blog; see http://www.thecancerblog.com), or write to a specific audience (e.g., chemistry teachers).
Most people with successful blogs are deeply committed to posting, for personal reasons, such as a passion for their subject, the satisfaction of reaching a wide audience, or the ego boost associated with having others find their narratives important enough to read.
Many people with successful blogs also have an innate slant toward the writing profession (the friend and the colleague I mentioned in my opening paragraph are just two examples).
I need to recognize all of those facts, accept that not all students will embrace the opportunity to blog, and redefine my expectations and purposes for using blogs in the classroom.
Don't forget "old" technologies. Since the advent of blogs, I had moved away from online discussion forums. I viewed them as clunky, dated even. Now I realize they still have merit.
It is very difficult to have an extended conversation within blogs. By their very nature, they position one person at the helm of all activity. The threaded format of discussion forums allows for multiple interactions among multiple individuals. It also allows subtopics to flow from a broad topic.
Don't be afraid to punt. I should have ceased--or at least modified--the way I used blogs last semester. I asked my students for their opinion on the topic, but few responded. I am very open to student suggestions but know that is not true of all faculty members. My students may have feared retribution. They may have just not cared enough to comment. So from now on, blogs will be a socially negotiated addition to my course work.
While some readers may take my comments as an attack on the merit of using blogs in teaching and learning, I still believe they have a definite role to play--especially given what we know about the importance of metacognition and social interaction in the learning process. My hope in sharing these insights is merely to help others consider what the role might be in their own classrooms.
~~~~~~~~
By Kara M. Dawson
Kara M. Dawson is an associate professor of educational technology at the University of Florida. For an archive of previous columns in the First Person series, see http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/archives/author%5flist%5ffp.html
The Chronicle of Higher Education: (http://chronicle.com) 1-800-728-2803 Copyright of Chronicle of Higher Education is the property of Chronicle of Higher Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
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Blog Overload By: Dawson, Kara M., Chronicle of Higher Education, 20070202, Vol. 53, Issue 22
Database:
ERIC
Blog Overload
Section: Careers
First Person
An associate professor and devoted reader of blogs finds that requiring students to create one produced the wrong kind of buzz
I HAVE A FRIEND whose personal blog about her plight with breast cancer as a stay-at-home mother of two led to her job as an official blogger with the Cancer Blog. She majored in journalism. I have a colleague whose blog about the potential of social software in teaching and learning has attracted international recognition among edu-bloggers. He is a former English teacher.
Sure, blogs have changed the face of communication, and brought new opportunities, new relationships, new forms of recognition, and even new earning potential to many people. But not to everyone.
Certainly not to my two classes of graduate students. They ended the fall semester blogged down and blogged out. In the past, when I had required students to write blog postings in my courses, the assignment was at least a novelty. But last semester, it just seemed a snore.
In some courses, I use a single blog on which all students are expected to post comments. In other classes, I require students to create individual blogs and to visit their fellow students' blogs through RSS feeds. Typically I expect students to write at least one posting a week and to comment on several others' blogs. Sometimes I require students to post on a particular topic, and sometimes I leave it open-ended. Whatever the approach, I found last semester that many students fell victim to blog overload.
I began to feel overloaded, too.
Don't get me wrong. I love blogs. I have my RSS feeds set to a number of blogs that help me stay current on personal and professional interests. But the key difference is that I am not forced to read any of those blogs. None of them were created because of someone else's course requirement.
Frankly, the blog postings I required my students to write were just not very interesting. Those students are bright, insightful, frequently opinionated, and, as a whole, a pleasure to be around. Their blogs were not.
With few exceptions, the blogs would sit inactive until about 24 hours before our face-to-face class meetings (or 24 hours before the assignments were due in my online class), when a flurry of posts and comments would erupt.
Then I would spend an excessive amount of time reading and commenting in the hours before class. Some students did the same, while others didn't bother to comment at all. Effective teaching and learning? I think not.
I have been using blogs for about seven semesters. On average, out of a class of 25 students, two to three post to their blogs once the course ends. Most of those who continue post personal vendettas, funny stories, or links to personally relevant resources. Their blogs have a known audience, such as family members or a group of interested colleagues. Few have readership outside the students' face-to-face network.
So I admit it. I got caught up in all the hype about blogs--about their potential for communication, for creating global connections, for expressing oneself, for extending face-to-face discussions, and for building community in online environments. In most cases, my initial excitement has not borne fruit.
I don't fault my students. I am the instructor. And given my background in pedagogy and education, I should be a good leader. But when it comes to blogs, I have not been.
Still, I am not going to give up on blogs. What I am going to do is become a much more critical user. And so I offer some thoughts as I prepare to revamp the integration of blogs in my courses.
Keep a blog yourself. I have a blog. I just don't use it. I am too busy reading other people's blogs, responding to student postings, and writing for outlets that may one day secure me a full professorship. How can I expect my students to devote time to something that I don't find important enough to do myself? So if you're going to require students to create a blog, you should probably have an active one, too.
Recognize individual learning styles and preferences. I find it funny that I would have to remind myself of that, given that I am expert in pedagogy. Before blogs came along, I offered my students multiple options for demonstrating their knowledge. Some created concept maps, others audio-recorded their thoughts (prior to podcasts), many kept individual journals, and others created movies or presentations. All students were responsible for demonstrating their interaction with class content from week to week and sharing the results. In retrospect, that is not such a bad plan. I can simply offer blogs as another possible option.
Encourage bloggers to produce more than just text. When I included a requirement that all students integrate at least three forms of multimedia in their blogs by the end of the semester, I envisioned creations like podcasts and Gliffy concept maps. What I got was links to YouTube videos and pre-existing podcasts and images.
Clearly, the use of blogs has unintentionally decreased the way my students interact with course content. I need to recognize that. I need to be more explicit in my expectations for the use of blogs.
Recognize the nature of the beast. The most effective blogs provide important and cutting-edge information (e.g., Tech Crunch; see http://www.techcrunch.com), communicate deeply personal experiences through narrative (e.g., the Cancer Blog; see http://www.thecancerblog.com), or write to a specific audience (e.g., chemistry teachers).
Most people with successful blogs are deeply committed to posting, for personal reasons, such as a passion for their subject, the satisfaction of reaching a wide audience, or the ego boost associated with having others find their narratives important enough to read.
Many people with successful blogs also have an innate slant toward the writing profession (the friend and the colleague I mentioned in my opening paragraph are just two examples).
I need to recognize all of those facts, accept that not all students will embrace the opportunity to blog, and redefine my expectations and purposes for using blogs in the classroom.
Don't forget "old" technologies. Since the advent of blogs, I had moved away from online discussion forums. I viewed them as clunky, dated even. Now I realize they still have merit.
It is very difficult to have an extended conversation within blogs. By their very nature, they position one person at the helm of all activity. The threaded format of discussion forums allows for multiple interactions among multiple individuals. It also allows subtopics to flow from a broad topic.
Don't be afraid to punt. I should have ceased--or at least modified--the way I used blogs last semester. I asked my students for their opinion on the topic, but few responded. I am very open to student suggestions but know that is not true of all faculty members. My students may have feared retribution. They may have just not cared enough to comment. So from now on, blogs will be a socially negotiated addition to my course work.
While some readers may take my comments as an attack on the merit of using blogs in teaching and learning, I still believe they have a definite role to play--especially given what we know about the importance of metacognition and social interaction in the learning process. My hope in sharing these insights is merely to help others consider what the role might be in their own classrooms.
~~~~~~~~
By Kara M. Dawson
Kara M. Dawson is an associate professor of educational technology at the University of Florida. For an archive of previous columns in the First Person series, see http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/archives/author%5flist%5ffp.html
The Chronicle of Higher Education: (http://chronicle.com) 1-800-728-2803 Copyright of Chronicle of Higher Education is the property of Chronicle of Higher Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
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Are blogs the new wild west??
I found this article very interesting. What do you think??
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Title:
Using Blogs to Humanize Our School Leaders By: Carr, Nora, Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, 20070301, Vol. 72, Issue 7
Database:
ERIC
Using Blogs to Humanize Our School Leaders
WHEN Pinellas County Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox launched his blog on the St. Petersburg Times website in November 2004, even the publication BusinessWeek took notice.
"Florida superintendent blogs and gets hundreds of comments," read one online story's headline, hailing Wilcox's innovative approach to getting the word out and gaining feedback.
Now, after, two years of often-bitter clashes with aggressive responders, including district teachers, Wilcox has shut down his much-publicized blog.
Battered by acrimonious exchanges, he wrote in his final posting that "the lies, distortions, and mean spiritedness of some were not worth my time or worthy of this district." No wonder that superintendents--already stretched impossibly thin by 24-7 job demands and raucous politics--are slow to embrace the web's hottest and fastest-growing trend.
Blogs are here to stay, however. Readership--already pegged at 57 million Americans in 2006 by the Pew Internet and American Life project study--is growing exponentially. More newsy than news oriented, blogs--web logs or inter active, online diaries for the uninitiated-represent a potent form of consumer-generated media.
Unfiltered--and some would say inaccurate--blogs are the Wild West of the Internet, where mostly young citizen journalists (more than half of all bloggers are under age 30) routinely ignore mainstream media niceties like fact checking, multiple sourcing, and balance. Conversational in tone, blogs represent a new and powerful form of personal communication.
By humanizing school leaders, blogs offer parents, teachers, and other key community leaders a glimpse into how superintendents' minds work and what their values are. It's hard to view school leaders as bureaucratic, out of touch, and aloof when they show their humanity week after week online by sharing their fears, dreams, hopes, frustrations, and plans.
The EdSuccess blog written by Joni Samples, superintendent of the Glenn County Office of Education in Willows, California, for example, covers a wide array of topics, from charter schools and reading to terrorism and her struggle to learn Spanish.
Wisely following the advice of her son, Christopher, who told her to "interact with your readers; don't try to teach them stuff," Samples' poignant and well-crafted prose is a joy to read. She invites readers in, while gently imparting wisdom and challenging them to think about things just a little bit more.
"It's a little unnerving to realize you are a possible innocent target of an individual or group of people who want to do you harm including kill you for no reason other than their own ends," writes Samples', caught at the Heathrow Airport after the failed terrorism plot in England.
Already Decided
"Being targeted by any fanatic is a strange feeling," she continues. "You can't control them. They are out of control. You can't reason. There is no reason. You can't show facts and make them evaluate their thinking. They have already decided and you are in the way."
While most superintendents aren't facing down terrorists, they do wrangle regularly with ideologues, sensation-seeking news reporters, angry parents, disgruntled employees, talk radio hosts, and other Citizens Against Virtually Everything (CAVES, in school public relations parlance).
As an instantaneous, transparent, and credible way to publish news and information, blogs also may be used to set the record straight--quickly and authoritatively.
The key to effective blogging is to create a dialogue with readers, and to write simply, candidly, and concisely without using "educationese" or Dilbert-like corporate speak. Humor and wit, used wisely, add another human dimension to blogs, the best of which create a conversation with readers.
Given Pinellas County's dismal experience with rabid responders, however, school leaders may want to simply offer an e-mail link for feedback rather than posting comments online. Just make sure someone has time to respond within 24 hours or less time.
Unlike online postings, an e-mail link offers responsiveness and interactivity without risk of embarrassment or derailment. Insightful comments and tough questions from readers can still be posted, just not instantaneously.
While blog purists may abhor this approach as the antithesis of transparency--87% of all blogs have a "post comment" section--it may be the most practical solution for school officials. If the blog turns into a forum for attacks, controversy, or sensationalism, as it did in Pinellas County, there's not much point in continuing it. The return on investment just won't be there.
Superintendents also are using blogs and other online tools to rebuild trust by making district issues and decision making more transparent. When a student brought a loaded gun to school just eight days into the new school year, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) Superintendent Peter Gorman broke the news at a morning media briefing and posted a blog entry about the incident later that evening.
Following the superintendent's lead, the principal used a voice and e-mail broadcast system to send a message to the parents of the high school's 2,600 students and nearly 300 staff members.
"On Wednesday, a student brought a loaded gun to one of our schools--Independence High," wrote Gorman. "I don't like to talk about things like this, but I think it's important to review what happened. We learned about the loaded gun because another student saw it and told us about it. In my view, the student who told us about it is a hero."
Ensuring Safety
Gorman also commended the student for acting responsibly and for preventing "what could have been a very dangerous Situation," noting that, "No one should ever feel unsafe in a CMS school."
Such candid, plain-talking communication is helping restore credibility in a community that has been fractured in recent years by bruising court battles, student assignment wars, rapid growth, rising poverty, immigration, and a deconsolidation movement.
Launched in July on his first day of work, Gorman's blog already has generated loyal readers and hundreds of e-mail responses. Blogging takes just a few minutes a day, says Gorman, who shares his thoughts with a public information staffer, who then writes the blog and posts it. As part of his push for transparency, Gorman also has posted his formidable meeting calendar online, along with his e-mail address, speeches, commentaries, resume, and other news items.
His responsiveness to community and employee concerns--returning all e-mails and phone calls within 24 hours and asking all staff to do the same--has won front-page accolades in the daily newspaper and created a more positive buzz in town about the public schools.
Not Easy to Do
Responding to 200 to 300 e-mails a day isn't easy, Gorman acknowledges: "All this transparency and responsiveness are tough to maintain. But I want staff to know that if I can do it, they can do it. We have to be as transparent to the public as we possibly can."
In the meanwhile, blogs are still so new that few corporations--or school districts--have developed policies governing their use.
Since employee blogs tend to be the most credible--and the most potentially damaging--the 30% of companies with blogging policies typically focus on employee use. If an employee maintains a company-sponsored blog, a disclaimer stating that the view which is being expressed belongs to the writer and not to the organization may be in order to limit legal liability.
Schools also should draft policies and discipline codes that govern student use of blogs. With the advent of MySpace.com, cyberbullying is an increasing--and insidious--problem among American "tweens" and teens.
Generally developed as part of an organization's online communication and acceptable use policies, employee and student guidelines for blogging should make it clear that some practices are NOT OK.
Policies which are NOT OK include: blogging on school or district time; revealing confidential information; bullying or attacking another student online, or disrupting school climate, whether using school or home computers; inappropriate contact with students via personal blogs; violating student privacy or any local, state, or federal laws; writing defamatory comments about colleagues, students, parents, school, or school district; posting obscene, abusive, harassing, threatening, intimidating, hateful, or embarrassing information about another person or organization.
While blogging is still uncharted territory legally in many ways, it's vitally important that students and staff understand the applicable media laws, including copyright and fair use. For more, see the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Legal Guide for Bloggers (www.eff.org) or the Media Law Resource Center (www.medialaw.org).
~~~~~~~~
By Nora Carr
Nora Carr (ncarr@carolina.rr.com) is Chief Communications Officer for North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and a Contributing Editor to American School Board Journal. Condensed, with permission, from American School Board Journal, 193 (November 2006), 46-47. © 2006, the National School Boards Association, Alexandria, Virginia. All rights reserved.
Copyright of Education Digest is the property of Prakken Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
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Using Blogs to Humanize Our School Leaders By: Carr, Nora, Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, 20070301, Vol. 72, Issue 7
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ERIC
Using Blogs to Humanize Our School Leaders
WHEN Pinellas County Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox launched his blog on the St. Petersburg Times website in November 2004, even the publication BusinessWeek took notice.
"Florida superintendent blogs and gets hundreds of comments," read one online story's headline, hailing Wilcox's innovative approach to getting the word out and gaining feedback.
Now, after, two years of often-bitter clashes with aggressive responders, including district teachers, Wilcox has shut down his much-publicized blog.
Battered by acrimonious exchanges, he wrote in his final posting that "the lies, distortions, and mean spiritedness of some were not worth my time or worthy of this district." No wonder that superintendents--already stretched impossibly thin by 24-7 job demands and raucous politics--are slow to embrace the web's hottest and fastest-growing trend.
Blogs are here to stay, however. Readership--already pegged at 57 million Americans in 2006 by the Pew Internet and American Life project study--is growing exponentially. More newsy than news oriented, blogs--web logs or inter active, online diaries for the uninitiated-represent a potent form of consumer-generated media.
Unfiltered--and some would say inaccurate--blogs are the Wild West of the Internet, where mostly young citizen journalists (more than half of all bloggers are under age 30) routinely ignore mainstream media niceties like fact checking, multiple sourcing, and balance. Conversational in tone, blogs represent a new and powerful form of personal communication.
By humanizing school leaders, blogs offer parents, teachers, and other key community leaders a glimpse into how superintendents' minds work and what their values are. It's hard to view school leaders as bureaucratic, out of touch, and aloof when they show their humanity week after week online by sharing their fears, dreams, hopes, frustrations, and plans.
The EdSuccess blog written by Joni Samples, superintendent of the Glenn County Office of Education in Willows, California, for example, covers a wide array of topics, from charter schools and reading to terrorism and her struggle to learn Spanish.
Wisely following the advice of her son, Christopher, who told her to "interact with your readers; don't try to teach them stuff," Samples' poignant and well-crafted prose is a joy to read. She invites readers in, while gently imparting wisdom and challenging them to think about things just a little bit more.
"It's a little unnerving to realize you are a possible innocent target of an individual or group of people who want to do you harm including kill you for no reason other than their own ends," writes Samples', caught at the Heathrow Airport after the failed terrorism plot in England.
Already Decided
"Being targeted by any fanatic is a strange feeling," she continues. "You can't control them. They are out of control. You can't reason. There is no reason. You can't show facts and make them evaluate their thinking. They have already decided and you are in the way."
While most superintendents aren't facing down terrorists, they do wrangle regularly with ideologues, sensation-seeking news reporters, angry parents, disgruntled employees, talk radio hosts, and other Citizens Against Virtually Everything (CAVES, in school public relations parlance).
As an instantaneous, transparent, and credible way to publish news and information, blogs also may be used to set the record straight--quickly and authoritatively.
The key to effective blogging is to create a dialogue with readers, and to write simply, candidly, and concisely without using "educationese" or Dilbert-like corporate speak. Humor and wit, used wisely, add another human dimension to blogs, the best of which create a conversation with readers.
Given Pinellas County's dismal experience with rabid responders, however, school leaders may want to simply offer an e-mail link for feedback rather than posting comments online. Just make sure someone has time to respond within 24 hours or less time.
Unlike online postings, an e-mail link offers responsiveness and interactivity without risk of embarrassment or derailment. Insightful comments and tough questions from readers can still be posted, just not instantaneously.
While blog purists may abhor this approach as the antithesis of transparency--87% of all blogs have a "post comment" section--it may be the most practical solution for school officials. If the blog turns into a forum for attacks, controversy, or sensationalism, as it did in Pinellas County, there's not much point in continuing it. The return on investment just won't be there.
Superintendents also are using blogs and other online tools to rebuild trust by making district issues and decision making more transparent. When a student brought a loaded gun to school just eight days into the new school year, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) Superintendent Peter Gorman broke the news at a morning media briefing and posted a blog entry about the incident later that evening.
Following the superintendent's lead, the principal used a voice and e-mail broadcast system to send a message to the parents of the high school's 2,600 students and nearly 300 staff members.
"On Wednesday, a student brought a loaded gun to one of our schools--Independence High," wrote Gorman. "I don't like to talk about things like this, but I think it's important to review what happened. We learned about the loaded gun because another student saw it and told us about it. In my view, the student who told us about it is a hero."
Ensuring Safety
Gorman also commended the student for acting responsibly and for preventing "what could have been a very dangerous Situation," noting that, "No one should ever feel unsafe in a CMS school."
Such candid, plain-talking communication is helping restore credibility in a community that has been fractured in recent years by bruising court battles, student assignment wars, rapid growth, rising poverty, immigration, and a deconsolidation movement.
Launched in July on his first day of work, Gorman's blog already has generated loyal readers and hundreds of e-mail responses. Blogging takes just a few minutes a day, says Gorman, who shares his thoughts with a public information staffer, who then writes the blog and posts it. As part of his push for transparency, Gorman also has posted his formidable meeting calendar online, along with his e-mail address, speeches, commentaries, resume, and other news items.
His responsiveness to community and employee concerns--returning all e-mails and phone calls within 24 hours and asking all staff to do the same--has won front-page accolades in the daily newspaper and created a more positive buzz in town about the public schools.
Not Easy to Do
Responding to 200 to 300 e-mails a day isn't easy, Gorman acknowledges: "All this transparency and responsiveness are tough to maintain. But I want staff to know that if I can do it, they can do it. We have to be as transparent to the public as we possibly can."
In the meanwhile, blogs are still so new that few corporations--or school districts--have developed policies governing their use.
Since employee blogs tend to be the most credible--and the most potentially damaging--the 30% of companies with blogging policies typically focus on employee use. If an employee maintains a company-sponsored blog, a disclaimer stating that the view which is being expressed belongs to the writer and not to the organization may be in order to limit legal liability.
Schools also should draft policies and discipline codes that govern student use of blogs. With the advent of MySpace.com, cyberbullying is an increasing--and insidious--problem among American "tweens" and teens.
Generally developed as part of an organization's online communication and acceptable use policies, employee and student guidelines for blogging should make it clear that some practices are NOT OK.
Policies which are NOT OK include: blogging on school or district time; revealing confidential information; bullying or attacking another student online, or disrupting school climate, whether using school or home computers; inappropriate contact with students via personal blogs; violating student privacy or any local, state, or federal laws; writing defamatory comments about colleagues, students, parents, school, or school district; posting obscene, abusive, harassing, threatening, intimidating, hateful, or embarrassing information about another person or organization.
While blogging is still uncharted territory legally in many ways, it's vitally important that students and staff understand the applicable media laws, including copyright and fair use. For more, see the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Legal Guide for Bloggers (www.eff.org) or the Media Law Resource Center (www.medialaw.org).
~~~~~~~~
By Nora Carr
Nora Carr (ncarr@carolina.rr.com) is Chief Communications Officer for North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and a Contributing Editor to American School Board Journal. Condensed, with permission, from American School Board Journal, 193 (November 2006), 46-47. © 2006, the National School Boards Association, Alexandria, Virginia. All rights reserved.
Copyright of Education Digest is the property of Prakken Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
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Army Clamping down on blogs!!!
Check this out!!! Watch how the number of blogs, posts, and responses are causing the military to clamp down on freedom of type!!http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0233987620070502?feedType=RSS
Blogging and Mass Media
Blurring with the mass media
Many bloggers, particularly those engaged in participatory journalism, differentiate themselves from the mainstream media, while others are members of that media working through a different channel. Some institutions see blogging as a means of "getting around the filter" and pushing messages directly to the public. Some critics worry that bloggers respect neither copyright nor the role of the mass media in presenting society with credible news. Bloggers and other contributors to user generated content are behind Time magazine naming their 2006 person of the year as "you".
Many mainstream journalists, meanwhile, write their own blogs — well over 300, according to CyberJournalist.net's J-blog list. The first known use of a weblog on a news site was in August 1998, when Jonathan Dube of The Charlotte Observer published one chronicling Hurricane Bonnie.[23]
Blogs have also had an influence on minority languages, bringing together scattered speakers and learners; this is particularly so with blogs in Gaelic languages, whose creators can be found as far away from traditional Gaelic areas as Kazakhstan and Alaska.[citation needed] Minority language publishing (which may lack economic feasibility) can find its audience through inexpensive blogging.
There are many examples of bloggers who have published books based on their blogs, e.g., Salam Pax, Ellen Simonetti, Jessica Cutler, ScrappleFace. Blog-based books have been given the name blook. A prize for the best blog-based book was initiated in 2005, [24] the Lulu Blooker Prize.[25] However success has been elusive offline, with many of these books not selling as well as their blogs. Only sex blogger Tucker Max cracked the New York Times Bestseller List. [26]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog#Types
Many bloggers, particularly those engaged in participatory journalism, differentiate themselves from the mainstream media, while others are members of that media working through a different channel. Some institutions see blogging as a means of "getting around the filter" and pushing messages directly to the public. Some critics worry that bloggers respect neither copyright nor the role of the mass media in presenting society with credible news. Bloggers and other contributors to user generated content are behind Time magazine naming their 2006 person of the year as "you".
Many mainstream journalists, meanwhile, write their own blogs — well over 300, according to CyberJournalist.net's J-blog list. The first known use of a weblog on a news site was in August 1998, when Jonathan Dube of The Charlotte Observer published one chronicling Hurricane Bonnie.[23]
Blogs have also had an influence on minority languages, bringing together scattered speakers and learners; this is particularly so with blogs in Gaelic languages, whose creators can be found as far away from traditional Gaelic areas as Kazakhstan and Alaska.[citation needed] Minority language publishing (which may lack economic feasibility) can find its audience through inexpensive blogging.
There are many examples of bloggers who have published books based on their blogs, e.g., Salam Pax, Ellen Simonetti, Jessica Cutler, ScrappleFace. Blog-based books have been given the name blook. A prize for the best blog-based book was initiated in 2005, [24] the Lulu Blooker Prize.[25] However success has been elusive offline, with many of these books not selling as well as their blogs. Only sex blogger Tucker Max cracked the New York Times Bestseller List. [26]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog#Types
Types of Blogging
Types
A photo of Joi Ito's moblog.
There are various types of blogs, and each differs in the way content is delivered or written.
By media type
A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a photoblog.[17] Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs.
An Artlog is a form of art sharing and publishing in the format of a blog, but differentiated by the predominant use of and focus on Art work rather than text.
A rare type of blog hosted on the Gopher Protocol is known as a Phlog
By device
Blogs can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA is called a moblog.[18]
Genre
Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, travel blogs, fashion blogs, project blogs, education blogs, niche blogs, classical music blogs, legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs) or dreamlogs. While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is known as a Splog.
Legal status of publishers
A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business purposes. Blogs, either used internally to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for marketing, branding or PR purposes are called corporate blogs.
Blog search engines
Several blog search engines are used to search blog contents (also known as the blogosphere), such as Bloglines, BlogScope, and Technorati. Technorati, which is among the most popular blog search engines, provides current information on both popular searches and tags used to categorize blog postings. Research community is working on going beyond simple keyword search, by inventing news ways to navigate through huge amounts of information present in the blogosphere, as demonstrated by projects like BlogScope.
Blogging Communities and Directories
Several online communities exist that connect people to blogs and bloggers to other bloggers, including BlogCatalog and MyBlogLog. A collection of local blogs is sometimes referred to as a Bloghood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog#Types
A photo of Joi Ito's moblog.
There are various types of blogs, and each differs in the way content is delivered or written.
By media type
A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a photoblog.[17] Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs.
An Artlog is a form of art sharing and publishing in the format of a blog, but differentiated by the predominant use of and focus on Art work rather than text.
A rare type of blog hosted on the Gopher Protocol is known as a Phlog
By device
Blogs can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA is called a moblog.[18]
Genre
Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, travel blogs, fashion blogs, project blogs, education blogs, niche blogs, classical music blogs, legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs) or dreamlogs. While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is known as a Splog.
Legal status of publishers
A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business purposes. Blogs, either used internally to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for marketing, branding or PR purposes are called corporate blogs.
Blog search engines
Several blog search engines are used to search blog contents (also known as the blogosphere), such as Bloglines, BlogScope, and Technorati. Technorati, which is among the most popular blog search engines, provides current information on both popular searches and tags used to categorize blog postings. Research community is working on going beyond simple keyword search, by inventing news ways to navigate through huge amounts of information present in the blogosphere, as demonstrated by projects like BlogScope.
Blogging Communities and Directories
Several online communities exist that connect people to blogs and bloggers to other bloggers, including BlogCatalog and MyBlogLog. A collection of local blogs is sometimes referred to as a Bloghood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog#Types
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