tellio II : How I Teach and Why It Is So Hard. Quote: "I have tried to convince them that weblogs are the most protean tool for learning ever made. Like a furnace and anvil, a weblog can make most of its own learning tools. It is self-contained yet all-connected. It is portable yet it is rooted. It is an imaginative journal with a lock and key yet it is fearlessly open to modification and criticism. It is self-governing yet is subject to social control. I am almost afraid of what it will do to certain of my students. Tools transform us whether we will or no. What will this do to them? And more to the point, will it, on balance, do more for them?" [Serious Instructional Technology]

Really nice, reflective post on weblogs in teaching environments and the promise they hold for learning coupled with the fears they generate in those who value order over learning.

I've been blessed to be able to learn in some of the best academic environments that exist -- ones that truly care about learning. Perhaps because of that it's taken me a bit longer to grasp how tenous the relationship is between classrooms, teachers, and learning. As I've spent time now in front of the classroom, I'm much more sanguine about the role of teachers and overly formal curricula (after all 'curriculum' comes from the Latin for running around in circles).  I like Terry's advice:

My teaching is very good when I keep a simple pattern in mind:  a question or a problem

And that has to start with a learner not a teacher.  That's why we, and so many others, are so keen on weblogs and learning. Weblogs put the responsibility where it is most effective, in the hands of a learner with a question or a problem.

7:46:45 PM •  • comment