DISQUS

Scott · 1 year ago

I was all about it until you mentioned dues. :)

Ah, labels. I don't think I've ever come across an education blog that deals with education exclusively. They always seem to veer off in one direction or another every now and then.

I talk about education on my personal blog now and then, but I wouldn't call it part of the edublogosphere. Maybe the unedublogsphere?

I guess the "edublogosphere" exists you believe it does, and you're a part of it if you believe you're a part of it.

Michelle Baldwin · 1 year ago

Because I have multiple blogs, I always refer to the "edublogosphere" as that virtual area where educators (anyone involved in any aspect of education) blog and/or read and/or comment. I also like to feel that students of any age are part of that community.

Just as there are virtual communities for mommy bloggers, celebrity bloggers, knitting bloggers... and so on... some of them have other names for their own blogosphere niche.

Several educatorsI know think that calling the blogging they do as "edublogging" lends more credence to what they do. I'm not sure if that's because they disrespect other types of blogging, or if they feel that they are disrespected as bloggers in general. My guess is it's probably the latter.

Doug Belshaw · 1 year ago

Darren, you're having the same difficulty defining 'edublogosphere' as I'm having defining 'digital literacy' for my Ed.D. thesis. They're both slipper notions, difficult to pin down.

As far as I see it, although there are other things relating to it (perhaps a wider edtechosphere?) the edublogosphere is akin to c.1996-style 'webrings' but with trackbacks, etc. Twitter, Diigo and all that other stuff sit on top of this baseline. Blogs are the permanent thing that remain after all the ephemera.

Richard Smart · 1 year ago

As a newbie I am not sure I have paid enough of my dues to comment :P , but I find that the education related blog that appear in my feed reader are the best professional development I experience.

I remember that when Doug was debating with Arthus about the role of students in the edublogosphere the argument seemed to revolve around the role of students in a professional environment. I see the edublogosphere as an online staff room (minus the tea) with bulletin boards, meetings, and teachers from all perspectives. Edublogs are not the same as personal blogs... to some degree they are all driven by our professional practice...

I love the wordle BTW...

bbcrfc · 1 year ago

Edublogosphere is a perfect word for a profession that is riddled with jargon. Wen speaking to the parents at my school I feel as though I am constantly apologizing or trying to explain the edubabble that we use on daily basis.

But ultimately I feel that it represents the brotherhood/sisterhood that exists within education and that we are always willing to help one another, this is a great example of how we are all learners in our own right.

Thanks for asking the question.

I have really enjoyed reading your posts, I am relativley new in the world of edubloging. Trying to decide how when and where I can jump into the sea of information and knowledge.

Darren Draper · 1 year ago

I like your take.

With that in mind, we need to make an acronym out of it. EBS fits
nicely with NCLB, AYP, BD, ADHD, and all the rest. :)

Sincerely,

The ADHDEB formerly known as DD

kallan · 1 year ago

Kia ora Darren!

The edublogosphere is a complexity system with a sphere of influence that's world-wide.

Though there are neither rules nor fees for membership, the actual roll is an exclusive group of intelligent and highly motivated educators.

Why do I say exclusive? First, they are all people with a common interest in learning, and not just any informal learning. Their interest lies within the discipline of education, from early childhood to adults. We have coaches, tutors, teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, business people, sales people, artists, designers, architects, musicians, CEOs and consultants. They all have their own slant on education and the range is diverse in the extreme. But the one element that's common to them all is their interest in using blog technology to communicate.

It's very strange how the 'membership' seems to keep itself in check, 'pure' if you like. I'd like to bet that there would be few exclusive clubs anywhere in the world where the interests of the members were so close knit as those in the edublogosphere AND the membership was free and open to anyone who chooses to join.

I have been an edublogger for over 3 months now and the ethics that I've observed as practiced within the system is of an extremely high calibre. There is a fair degree of
homophily exhibited and members will have their own likes and dislikes. But when these are expressed, it is always in a most professional manner. It's really quite impressive, to be honest with you, but I guess you've already come to that conclusion.

It's not as if it all goes on behind closed doors (or folders) either. One does not need a username nor password to enter and participate. Using a metaphor, I suppose you could say, "They're only here for the beer. The beer's free and they all make their own. Their brew is such an acquired taste that only an edublogger wants to partake of it."

Ka kite
Blogger from Middle-earth

Louise Maine · 1 year ago

I thought I knew this answer until I taught blogs this past week to teachers in my district. We had them with the moodle, we had them with the wiki, but the tone changed on blogs. Are we perceived as elite, self-centered? Not sure. I did tell them that 1 year of ambitious reading and 9 months of actual blogging has taught me more than in the last 20 years. And that writing and reflection is the only way to learn, etc.

But how to define us? It really is like dropping into the faculty room and being able to be part of all the conversations you would like to be part of (and ignore or challenge those you don't agree with). Dues to be paid. I am sure I have not paid these, but they may be my own dues and not imposed by the EBS itself. It is like the closed cocktail party idea - that could be one's own perception and not the actuality.

As always, you invoke thought with your posts that challenges us. Maybe a higher order skill in the EBS taxonomy?

njtechteacher · 1 year ago

I think the dues for membership are a willingness to come back time and again to extend conversations. In my mind, edublogosphere lines are blurry. I learn in many different places. As I find the same names in different places (not necessarily blogs), it extends my connection with those educators. It becomes a social network in that way. Are we friends? That's a pretty nebulous word. I know that I have met people at conferences that I first knew virtually and there is a certain immediate connection that I wouldn't have with other attendees that I would sit next to in a conference hall. Certainly, I felt as comfortable meeting them as if I arrived with a colleague down the hall. I guess we can talk about it again in ten or more years and see how I feel then. I like Louise Maine's equation of a faculty room. I tend to interact with teachers, exclusively, so that analogy works well for me. My thoughts after a very light summer connecting online.