Andrew

What’s Wrong?

Scott McLeod asks us to answer the question, “What’s wrong with the Edublogosphere?” He promises in the near future that we’ll be given the chance to respond to the question, “What’s right about the edublogosphere?” and I do have thoughts on that, which I’ll eventually share.

I think the biggest difficulty is that there are no prominent student bloggers writing about education, of which I’m aware.  There isn’t a vast crowd of students telling us what we’re doing right, what we’re doing wrong, or even if we’re going in the right direction.

If someone has some student writers, who write about their educational experiences, to recommend — please pass them my way.

For that matter, I think it’s important that we start encouraging our students to look at, and respond, to some of the big names in educational blogging, so that we begin to get a sense of who really is on the right track to understanding what “the kids these days” are all about.

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8 comments

  7. Hi Mr. Watt,

    I heard about this post from my Humanities teacher who wrote on his blog (http://bryanjack.edublogs.org/2010/02/23/andrew-b-watts-essay-encouragement/) that you mentioned the lack of student bloggers. I would like to take a chance to point out that I am a student and I am blogging 🙂

    I first embarked on this experience with the rest of my class. No doubt, we’ve just begun but I would like to think that we’ve gotten a good start on what’s becoming a good collective store of our individual and group experience in our classroom and in our environment.

    I haven’t quite gotten to explore fully the possibilities in the community of edublogging or other blog sites, so my opinion isn’t fully supported, but I think there may be more student bloggers out there than I would’ve originally thought of. Just 2 days ago, another fellow student blogger comment on my ‘About Me’ page, which was a huge surprise and also source of excitement. I’m truly inspired by her reaching outside of her classroom and country. Hence, the problem I think is finding the scattered hubs of other blogging students, than the lack of them.

    But for a start, if Mr. J hasn’t provided you with a link to our class blogs (http://bryanjack.edublogs.org/talons-class-blogging/), I for one, would definitely appreciate a new voice in our exchange of ideas.

    ~Clare

    Reply

  8. Andrew

    It is interesting that you jumped immediately to wondering what the students would have to say, if anything, about education. I am going to guess that you are in a minority in that question. It seems to me, sadly, that most people would not have even considered student blogs or responses.

    I have found that many edubloggers like to point out problems with the current education system (and often they are quite right), and then present ideas for solutions (often good ones). But I dare say that they have defined these “problems” and determined these “solutions” without ever talking with students, much in the same way that administrators (about whom they complain) define “problems” and determine “solutions” without ever talking to teachers. Ironic, isn’t it? Each “authority” group tends to think that they do not need to consult with “subordinates”. They assume that they know better than “subordinates” because, after all, they have achieved this position of “authority”. Or, worse yet, and the most dangerous of all, they make a pretense of listening to “subordinates” so that the “subordinates” feel that they have “ownership” in the solution. And then the authority does exactly as he pleases anyway. And yet the “subordinates” are those who are directly affected by the decisions and opinions of the “authorities”. This problem is not unique to education. It just tends to be a flaw in human nature. It happens in government, corporate, the church, education and in the family. In the end, everyone suffers. And, the “subordinates” see after a while that the “authorities” ultimately have only their own interests at heart and agendas in mind. (And for those who consider me a cynic, look around you. Enough said.)

    I think that our students would have plenty to say about a good many things if we let them. In fact, I think our students do have plenty to say about a good many things. We just don’t listen. And since they do not have as many years or experiences behind them as we do, we assume they have nothing to say. Or, worse yet, we assume they wouldn’t know what they are talking about. I do understand that young people may throw opinions out there that are not necessarily mature or based in fact. But is this really any different from many other people you know? Be honest now. I understand that young people often lack balance and discernment in their thoughts. But is this really any different from many other people you know? I understand that young people can not see the whole picture. But is this really any different from many other people you know? It is interesting to consider.

    I follow one college student’s blog here: http://blog.carolynworks.com
    I would not define it as specifically an edublog, but it is worth taking a look at. Other than that, I do not know of any students that blog about education. I wish I did.

    (Now that I have started thinking about this, my mind is churning. I may take this response over to my own blog and make a post out of it.)

    Carolyn

    Reply

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