Blogs - the "new" pro-d?

"[W]e need to resort to personal recommendation, trusting one individual’s ideas, suggestions or advice because we’ve ‘known’ them online over a long period of time. The longevity of my relationship with some fellow professionals who keep blogs has given me more successful learning opportunities as a teacher than attending some ‘5* status’ conferences." Ewan MacIntosh


Since last January, my professional development has consisted of me working on course work in order to attain a Masters degree in librarianship. This has been a much needed awakening for my brain, and although at times I feel somewhat like Sisyphus, I am enjoying the journey on which I have embarked.

At the beginning of September, I really didn't understand or know what a blog was, nor did I realize that blogs are an amazing resource for professional development. Blogs allow some of the "edublogging greats" to maintain continual communication with bloggers/educators around the world. The ideas and thoughts, as well as explorations of bloggers are easily shared and expanded upon by the blogging community. This is an amazing resource for educators which seems to be largely untapped because many do not know that this collaborative tool and community even exists. Granted, I am generalizing based on my personal experience in talking to teachers in my school, as well as several other schools throughout the province, but I don't think that I am far off the mark. The few times I forwarded blog links which I thought would be of interest to certain staff members, the response I often received was "What am I supposed to do with this link?"

The opportunity to explore this world that I knew nothing about has allowed for an invigorating and thought provoking experience, and I will continue to embrace it once this course is over. It is inevitable that over time, the blogs that I have been following in Bloglines will likely change and the number will increase as I find others that I want to add. But this is a natural evolution as I progress and learn about different educational and technological topics.

In a blog from 2006, Richardson comments on what he read on Karl Fisch's blog: "The latest post on Karl’s blog is a really interesting explanation of a staff development program with real vision, and how blogs have become pretty central to the way he and his teachers reflect on their practice and create community around common goals which were to 'improve teacher and student use of technology, to achieve curricular goals, to help transform our school to a more student-centered, constructivist approach, and to prepare our students to succeed in the 21st century.'” I would have liked to have read more about this process, but unfortunately, I couldn't go that far back in Karl's posts. But this is enough to demonstrate that blogs and blogging can be used effectively as a means of pro-d by a school community.

Not only do blogs provide a means of personal professional development, but they also provide suggestions for promoting professional development. A recent suggestion can be found at the Ideas and Thoughts blog where Dean Shareski tells of how he created a great learning experience for teachers by organizing a time for some of them to get together to view some of the K12 online conference sessions. Shareski creates a meaningful pro-d experience with minimal cost, compared to going to a conference and having to pay hundreds of dollars. This is an excellent idea that I am going to share with my social studies department.

I recently listened to Ewan MacIntosh's podcast which he presented at the 2006 K12 Online Conference. Accompanying the podcast is a blog entitled "Professional Development . . . with fries" and in this MacIntosh explains how "[a]fter a year of promoting the use of social media for professional development [the Modern Foreign Language Educators] now have a burgeoning community of modern linguists and other teaching professionals connecting to each other and sharing their ideas, thoughts, complaints and congrats through complex social networks." What a great accomplishment to have achieved this after only one year.

An interesting video presentation on blogging for professional development, directed mainly at librarians, by John Dupuis can be found here. Dupuis talks about blogging as a means of opening doors and starting conversations, which I believe can allow for some of the most meaningful professional development.

Blogging allows educators to ingest new ideas, as well as contribute to conversations by commenting on blogs. Due to the discussion topic this past week about "finding your voice in the edublogosphere," It was pointed out how important it is to comment on people's blogs in a thoughtful, and meaningful way. This allows for dialogue to occur from many different perspectives, much like going to a conference and conversing with the other members, but perhaps the best part is that the dialogue can be ongoing.

Not only do educators benefit from writing posts and following blogs, but the students also benefit. The vast array of ideas and discussions that are floating around the edublogsphere can only result in more authentic learning environments for students. Opportunities for, and methods of the use of web tools in the classroom are frequently presented. Possibilities for educators to collaborate on student-based projects are more likely to occur, and teachers can share and use lesson ideas and suggestions.

Blogs and blogging for professional development really exemplify the collaborative aspect of the read/write web, and I hope to expose my colleagues to this form of cost-free, ongoing pro-d.