CMS and Blogging

I am interested to read Dave Warlicks blog and comments on the social cell that is the blogasphere. I found David’s observations interesting but then when I clicked on the comments from his readers I was provoked to start thinking about the use of CMS’s such as Moodle and the correlation between that and profesional blogs. Also being inspired by a lunch conversation I just had with Dr Robert Herschell who is the Dean of the education faculty at Christian Heritage College in Brisbane. He and the staff are looking at the value of CMS’s such as Moodle and trying to decide if they will head in that direction. Further in our conversation he discussed a recent trip to Japan where he spent time with some Japenese educators who were blown away with his sessions on questioning. Obviously, they were amazed at what he had shared and wanted to learn more.

I am now thinking that CMS’s create a closed society of educators who don’t share and collaborate with one another. Blogging on the other hand creates an open network of collaboration that shares knowledge and understanding among peers. At the end of the day the benificaries sharing and collaborating are students and the education process as a whole. If experience is not shared and learnt then we just continue going around in circles. What draws me to blogging and podcasting is the fact that it is an open network of freely obtainable information that is ultimatly improving my teaching. I want to always be an educator that shares what I know and even what I am learning as I am learning it. My students learn from sharing what they have just learnt. I think we can all take a closser look at how we share information and skills so to benifit education. I would even appreciate having a chance to see what universities are teaching undergrad student teachers in many areas. I would also love to share in the review of student work at a teritary level. I am sure there is plenty that even the most experienced educator could learn. Especially when it comes to the area of educational technologies.

Let’s face it, none of us are going to make millions out of education so the idea of intelectual property being worth something is long gone!! That comment may be a tad niave but I am still just 26 years old!!!