2008-06-15T14:44:25Z http://edjurist.com/comments/atom.aspx Quick Blog tag:edjurist.com,2008-06-06:1101692 Carl Anderson http://carlanderson.blogspot.com 2008-06-06T20:06:12Z 2008-06-06T20:06:12Z
As for the maps, who cares what maps Scholastic is pawning these days when there are tools like Google Earth, Google Maps with Street View, Virtual Earth, and the like. The same is true for textbooks. I for one am all for never spending money on textbooks ever again.

I suspect the answer to your last question here is the reason ed tech dominates their posts is ed tech is the one thing they have most in common with other educators using this medium. They talk tech on their blogs because when they talk tech they find conversation. If they talked geometry or emotional behavior disorders the chances are less that they will find engaging conversations (the readers have not come yet). The other possible reason there are so few posts that have to do with other topics is most educators I think feel limited in what control they have in their classrooms (at least under NCLB). We tend to accept what we cannot change and dwell on those we can. We can use technology to affect the changes we want and we can see immediate results with that technology, when it comes to other education issues our hands are more tied.]]> tag:edjurist.com,2008-06-06:1101557 Justin B. http://www.edjurist.com 2008-06-06T19:19:39Z 2008-06-06T19:19:39Z
But, my concern was exactly what you stated: "blogs themselves aren't likely to attract the majority of k-12 teachers." Why not? Is it a content problem? Is there not interesting enough content in English education to keep your normal, non-techy 35 year old English teacher engaged? And if not, don't the English teachers that are currently connected have some responsibility to help build that social network so that teachers can enter the conversation on whatever interests them?]]> tag:edjurist.com,2008-06-06:1101550 Justin B. http://www.justinbathon.com 2008-06-06T19:12:51Z 2008-06-06T19:12:51Z tag:edjurist.com,2008-06-06:1101524 Justin Bathon 2008-06-06T19:02:52Z 2008-06-06T19:02:52Z ]]> tag:edjurist.com,2008-06-06:1101464 Arnie Kriegbaum 2008-06-06T18:40:12Z 2008-06-06T18:40:12Z Great post and stunning video.]]> tag:edjurist.com,2008-06-06:1100821 Kimberly McCollum http://kamccollum.wordpress.com 2008-06-06T14:30:34Z 2008-06-06T14:30:34Z
Most of them members of the "edublogosphere" or whatever you want to call it are also members of local education communities somewhere. The online activities are only a part of the picture. The off-line conversations that they inspire aren't visible for analysis, but my personal experience would indicate that the ed tech community is far from an echo chamber.]]> tag:edjurist.com,2008-06-06:1100713 Carl Anderson http://carlanderson.blogspot.com 2008-06-06T13:41:11Z 2008-06-06T13:41:11Z tag:edjurist.com,2008-06-06:1100518 Scott McLeod http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org 2008-06-06T12:17:29Z 2008-06-06T12:17:29Z
How long does change in K-12 schools take? A lot longer than 3 to 7 years. And in academia? Even longer than K-12. That's the problem. The tech changes faster than our current institutions. It's a disruptive innovation. Which is why many people (both bloggers and respected academics) think the current systems are going to break apart under the weight of irrelevance (e.g., do we honestly think that 20-30 years from now kids will be sitting in desks in rows, listening to teachers lecture, doing worksheets, with little to no technology?).

1. What would you like ed tech bloggers to be doing that they're not?

2. What can YOU do personally to help achieve the situation you desire?

3. In a digital, global world, don't we eventually want everyone to become an ed tech person?

4. In a digital, global world, why shouldn't the responsibility rest on the backs of the tech refusers rather than the tech advocates?

5. What are your specific 'suggestions for speeding [the diffusion process] further?'

6. I don't see as incompatible the notions that a) I want lots of readers, and b) I want other good writers to have lots of readers too. At some point we'll hit saturation (e.g., how many school law blogs do there need to be? more than a couple; less than a million), but we're not anywhere close to that point yet. There's lots of space for creative, innovative, interesting, valuable writing. I can work to increase my readership while simultaneously helping you increase yours, both of us recognizing along the way that we're competing with every other blogger / TV station / web site / podcast channel / print media outlet / family / friends / hobbies / etc. for people's limited attention.]]> tag:edjurist.com,2008-06-06:1100445 Justin B. http://www.justinbathon.com 2008-06-06T11:21:35Z 2008-06-06T11:21:35Z
Blogging has been around what, 6-7 years now and prevalent for 4 or 5? At what point to we begin to get concerned that your list is still dominated by ed. tech. folks?

Clearly, Ed. tech folks should use these tools first. I have no disagreements with the diffusion of innovation theory whatsoever. I totally agree with you that's is what is happening. But how long does the diffusion take and at what point do we begin to get concerned about it not happening fast enough? Do we have a baselike like the time of diffusion of e-mail?

Does anyone have a responsibility for speeding up the diffusion of innovation? Is this just a natural process that cannot be affected by humans?

My feeling is that it should be a goal of the ed. tech. community (and me too) to speed the diffusion up as fast as possible. And your second paragraph leads me to believe that you sort of see that as the goal as well. And I think you and the community are doing a great job of it, actually. I mean, I am blogging, and without Dangerously Irrelevant and Did You Know 2.0 and other stuff ... I might not be. So, in my mind, you are speeding the diffusion of innovation process already and my post was only meant as suggestions for speeding it further from an outsider's perspective. Truly, I didn't mean any harm.

So, anyway, if that is the goal (to speed the diffusion, to bring new people on board, to encourage new blog-based social learning networks) doesn't that mean that at some point your top 50 list needs to look quite a bit different?

For ed. tech. bloggers to win ... don't they need to lose in some ways (not all, but some like being a top ranked Technorati blog). Don't we want a lot more eduwonkette's to take up those spots? But, how does that square with the attention economy and the marketplace of ideas? How does that square with Seth Godin's Brutal Fact #1: http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2008/04/dear-jon-letter.html

There is an incompatibility in those 2 things that I cannot get over. I am sorry that I am having a difficult time articulating that incompatibility. I remember this time when I was a boy I saw an interview with a local humane shelter director who said on TV that her ultimate goal is to not have a job. It seems like that is what is happening here. The ultimate goal of ed. tech. bloggers should be to get their names off your Technorati list.]]> tag:edjurist.com,2008-06-06:1100395 Scott McLeod http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org 2008-06-06T10:24:54Z 2008-06-06T10:24:54Z
And why aren't ed tech bloggers allowed to blog about ed tech? You blog about school law. No one's complaining that you're not blogging about homeschooling or early childhood education or dyslexia. If you want more non-ed-tech people participating in these kinds of discussion, do what many of us are doing which is working our rears off to help them learn how and why to do so.]]>