Who wants to Edublog?

Weblogs or blogs have proven themselves to be a very fast and convenient means of online communication. In no time at all, blogging has gone from an individual and personal capacity to specialised and collective activity. It should come as no surprise that the educational sector has also jumped on the bandwagon. Blogs dedicated to education, or Edublogs were never noticed as a category in themselves till the first Edublog Weblog Awards were given out. Now, Edublogs are widely recognised and well-respected.

However, Pakistani bloggers still have a long way to go in this category. With only a handful of Pakistani Edublogs, most people this writer came in touch with expressed coming to a total loss for ideas when it comes to Edublogging. Well, here are a few suggestions to get your specialised Edublog up and running in no time.

1. Students of an educational institute, whether it is a school, college or university can get together to create a blog specific to their institute. This blog can be updated with latest news and events, information for potential students and of course, a discussion of various subjects.

2. A student looking to blog individually can take up any educational issue and post up random thoughts and links to news stories related to that issue. Various educational issues that have recently been in the news include combined examinations at matriculation and intermediate level, removal of certain subjects from the syllabi and rampant unfair practices during examinations

3. A teacher and her students can create a blog to share their ideas and post up their questions related to the subject in question. Web resources can be posted, and examination questions can be discussed in thorough detail. Students studying the subject the world over can benefit from a blog of this type.

4. Teachers can blog individually or as a group, sharing their experiences with the students, working out solutions to the problems they face and the administrative issues they would like to discuss among themselves.

5. Edublogs can be career oriented. Students or teachers of a specific subject can create one of these blogs with the potential title of “So you want to be a…” This blog can be updated with the requirements of the course, universities offering this subject, pre-requisites in terms of skills needed and of course the admission procedure. University students of various disciplines can create one or more of these blogs, depending on their subject and level of information.

6. Blogs can be subject-specific. Students or teachers can post information on any specific subject like economics or chemistry. This information can include new and interesting websites, links to news stories, online lecture notes, helpful textbooks etc.

7. Blogs can be problem-oriented. Teachers or students can create a blog to post up their random thoughts on any problem they are currently facing in their educational institute. This can be anything ranging from an administrative problem to student politics.

8. Teachers are into curriculum development can make their own blogs to post up information regarding problems with textbooks, proposed solutions to the lack of students’ confidence on Pakistani textbook authors, how to improve the layout of textbooks and of course, a discussion of the revised textbooks.

9. This one may sound a little far fetched, but judging from the fact that many institutes do not update their website in line with their announcements in the newspapers; an educational blog can be dedicated to various announcements related to both public and private sector institutes. This would simply mean linking to the relevant news stories as they come in the newspapers, but students for sure will benefit a lot from it if it is in one place.

10. EduBlogs can be exclusively dedicated to disseminating information about study skills. As it happens, the educational system relies on rote learning, so why not give students alternative learning methods by reaching out to them through blogs?

The above should make things clear as to what to Edublog about. The possibilities of course are endless. But the overall theme for an Edublog ultimately will depend on your level of dedication to the ultimate cause: dissemination of information, healthy interaction and effective improvement in the educational system.

The International Edublog Awards Winners 2005

If you are still stuck for ideas on what to Edublog about, then check out the Edublog Awards 2005 winners and their blogs.

Most innovative edublogging project, service or programme 2005
Edublogs
www.edublogs.org

Best newcomer 2005
Blog of proximinal development
www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/

Most influential post, resource or presentation 2005
Connectivism: Learning as Network-Creation
www.elearnspace.org/Articles/networks.htm

Best designed/most beautiful edublog 2005
D’Arcy Norman Dot Net
www.darcynorman.net/

Best library/librarian blog 2005
Joyce Valenza’s NeverEnding Search
joycevalenza.edublogs.org

Best teacher blog, joint winners 2005
Blog of proximinal development
Edublog Insights
anne.teachesme.com/

Best audio and/or visual blog 2005
Ed Tech Talk
edtechtalk.com

Best example / case study of use of weblogs within teaching and learning 2005
Polar Science
www.polarscience.ca/

Best group blog 2005
Dekita.org
dekita.org/

Best individual blog 2005
OLDaily
www.downes.ca/news/OLDaily.htm