Hail to the Hyperlink

Sites need to be able to interact in one single, universal space. --Tim Berners-Lee, Founder of the World Wide Web


A hyperlink is a simple enough tool, but now that I've been blogging for a couple of months, I've come to realize the immense power it brings to the medium. When I hyperlink, I participate in what Richardson (2010) identifies as "connective writing", a new genre that calls for careful reading, clear explanations and communication for the purpose of learning. Those hyperlinks are what separates true blogging from simple posting and/or straightforward journaling.

Links are the driving force of the internet and Web 2.0: they are what make the web, web-like! "Hyperlinking is the foundation of the web. As users add new content, and new sites, it is bound in to the structure of the web by other users discovering the content and linking to it" (O'Reilly as cited in Berger & Trexler, 2010, p. 5). This article on internet pioneers shows that hypertexting, or the ability to jump between documents, was at the heart of the idea for the world wide web.

The irony of this post is that I had a heck of time finding good hyperlinks about hyperlinks, which goes to show that linking is so ubiquitous that it becomes something we take for granted. This blogging project has given me the opportunity to pause and reflect on the value of the hyperlink and how it can enrich our learning experience.

References

Berger, P., & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

Griffin, S. (2000). Internet pioneers: Tim Berners-Lee. Retrieved from http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/lee.html

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousands Oaks, CA: Corwin

I Think, Therefore I Blog

Blogging is therefore to writing what extreme sports are to athletics: more free-form, more accident-prone, less formal, more alive. It is, in many ways, writing out loud. -Andrew Sullivan

Blogs have taken off as one of the most popular mediums on the internet. Over 180 million people have blogged, and two new blogs are coming into existence every second (Richardson, 2010, p. 19). But why? What is the power of the blog?



Seth Godin is a famed blogger and marketing guru. Although the above exchange was captured at a seminar about entrepreneurship, Godin's comments about blogging ring true no matter what the occupation of the writer.

"What matters," he says, "is the meta-cognition of thinking about what you are going to say." Later he states that with blogging we "force [ourselves] to become part of the conversation." His comments get to the heart of the questions I have regularly asked myself with this blog: What is the purpose of my post? What can I connect my ideas to? How can I make this post relevant to today's conversation about education?

Blogging taps into higher-level thinking, which is why it makes such an outstanding project to do with our students. Think about all the skills being engaged at once: planning, writing, researching, linking, synthesizing, critiquing, commenting and responding. When you look at Bloom's Revised Taxonomy, this chart shows blogging at the top:
Will Richardson (2010) points out that true blogging doesn't happen instantaneously; it is a progression from something simple like journaling to something more complex that involves articulating one's understanding of content through links and interaction with your blogging audience (p. 31). It's taken me over two months to start to feel comfortable with the blogging process. It evolves slowly, with patience and self-discipline. It is the process of blogging and the benefits that come as a result that I'm excited to share with students.

References

Fisher, M. (2009, February 27). Digital Bloom's Visual [web log post]. Retrieved from http://digigogy.blogspot.com/2009/02/digital-blooms-visual.html

Innerpreneur. (2009, April 18). Seth Godin and Tom Peters on blogging [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=livzJTIWlmY

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousands Oaks, CA: Corwin

Web Tool #1: Google Reader & Blogging

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. --Mahatma Gandhi

Will Richardson (2010), an authority on web tools for teachers, states that “if you’re an educator, I think it’s the one technology that you should start using today, right now, this minute” (p. 71). Here's a look at the concept of RSS aggregators in simple terms:

Setting up Google Reader this summer was the first step I took towards building my Personal Learning Network, and I am quickly discovering that it is an efficient and powerful tool. I intend to use Google Reader not only as way to follow my interests, but also as a way to learn about the art of blogging itself.

References

Lefever, L. (2007, April 23). RSS in plain English [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU&feature=player_embedded

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousands Oaks, CA: Corwin.