Writing stops; blogging continues

Writing stops; blogging continues. writing is inside; blogging is outside. Writing is monologue; blogging is conversation. writing is thesis; blogging is synthesis... none of which minimizes the importance of writing. But writing becomes an ongoing process, one that is not just done for the contrived purposes of the classroom. Ken Smith, a writing instructor at Indiana University puts it this way: Instead of assigning students to go write, we should assign them to go read and then link to what interests them and write about why it does and what it means, not in order to make a connection or to build social capital but because it is through quality linking... that one first comes in contact with the essential acts of blogging: close reading and interpretation. Blogging, at base, is writing down what you think when you read others. If you keep at it, others will eventually write down what they think when they read you, and you'll enter a new realm of blogging, a new realm of human connection. (Smith, 2004) From Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson (p31)   One of several quotes that I'll tease you with as I work through my review of this good book.     Technorati Tags : writing, blogging, wikis, education, classroom, students, learning, Joyful+Jubilant+Learning Powered By Qumana