It’s not the blogging or the writing
It’s not the blogging or the writing, it’s the feeling. As Anne writes:
So,
will she still feel the same enthusiasm for writing in high school as
she does now writing on a weblog? Will she continue to write and
experience the joy? Will she continue to develop her own voice and
style in writing? I believe weblogs are a great tool for helping in
this process and I do feel that Emily will make her voice heard. I
think weblogs have helped her a lot in that area. We need to keep
thinking about just what it is in this weblog process that makes it
effective. What can we do to keep pushing the envelope on what we can
do with weblogs that we have not done before in typical educational
scenarios? (Read more…)
I suspect the joy and enthusiasm to which Anne refers is
the same that drives all learners toward personally meaningful learning
experiences. This is the feeling that educators need to help
learners tap into and cultivate, necessitating conducive learning
environments and methods. The use of weblogs for writing and
sharing work is perhaps one way, but getting learners to ‘feel the
call’ needs to happen in all educational pursuits, not just
writing. An even better question might be, what can we do to help
learners continue cultivating that feeling when they turn their
attention towards other facets of their lives?
What is it about the weblog that inspires? I think it’s both the
authentic, interactive experience the medium provides and the actual or
perceived freedom with which
it can be used. We’re trying to take similar approaches via
experiential education, service learning, and qualitative assessment
here at Friends World.
So even without weblogs, the structure and methodology of our program
is striving to accomplish the same thing: tap into the feeling of
inspiration, curiosity, and joy that drives meaningful learning.
—–