Catshanghai

I have just finished this week’s column for our school newsletter, which is basically a campaign to get everyone writing blogs, largely inspired by Jeff Utecht’s forays at SAS Pudong.

You may have noticed that we’ve been getting our secondary students to set up blogs or weblogs as part of their ICT classes. I want to get as many people in the BISS learning community blogging as possible. I have been writing Catshanghai for the past year while I enjoy reading and participating in other people blogs on a daily basis. I’d like to shed a little light on the practice of blogging, why I think it is an amazing communication tool and share a few tips that I have picked up along the way.

Blogging is just a way of publishing new information on a website. That information is often text, but it can also include photographs, sound recordings, videos and even interactive animations or games. Previously, you needed to be very good at writing webcode or using complex software such as Dreamweaver to make webpages and websites. Blogging tools make it much simpler and quicker for normal people to write and maintain their websites, because you can add text or pictures just like you would in a Word document or PowerPoint show. It is becoming easier all the time.

Two weeks ago, I talked about the increasing power of the Internet to give ordinary people a voice for the first time. Blogs are a great example of this, because you can reach an audience of thousands or even millions as long as you have the imagination and passion to say something worthwhile that other people want to look at. Getting an audience is just half of the story. The medium becomes really powerful when the readers start participating by writing comments back. Such conversations can then develop into meaningful relationships and communities between people who are located anywhere. My favourite examples of blogs that behave this way are Lifehacker and Techcrunch.

From a learning point of view, it is really powerful to imagine students sharing ideas and solving problems by finding an expert and getting the answers to their questions. Alan November goes further and suggests that learners will be far more motivated if they make their own content that is published to a wider audience on the Internet. A podcast show that is going to be publicly available through the Itunes store is going to have more meaning to a student than an essay in an exercise book that is only ever read by two people.We’re starting to make steps along this path by setting up our own blogging website. Students have been receiving Email invitations from me to setup accounts on this website where they can keep their own blogs. It is already on the Internet for BISS students to look at and comment on each others’ blog posts. I am starting to get students to write diaries of what they have been doing in their ICT lessons, but I would be really happy if the student blogs were used to write about anything that they are interested in. We need to make sure that everybody knows how to blog safely before we open it up to anyone on the Internet wanting to see our blog posts and give comments.

What do I mean by safe blogging? There are scary stories about teenagers being befriended on the Internet by unsavoury adults pretending to be teenagers. Fortunately, such incidents are less common than headlines would lead you to believe. A more common problem is cyberbullying where children and adults receive threatening or humiliating messages in Emails, instant messages, blog posts and Internet videos. Fortunately, there are some sensible precautions that students can follow to keep their Internet use trouble free.

1. Think carefully before you write anything, because when it is written other people can find out what you have been writing.
2. Only write or publish information that you would be happy for your parents, friends and teachers to read, see or listen to.
3. Avoid using the Internet to bully others or spread false rumours.
4. Do not use the Internet to give out information about yourself, including telephone numbers, addresses or even photographs.
5. If you come across a harmful message, tell your parents or teachers immediately.
6. Go back and make sure your blogs and Internet sites do not give out personal information.

Parents can support safe Internet use by keeping an eye on the websites that their children are looking at, which I am sure they already do.

With these safety tips in mind, I’m really excited about the meaningful conversations that are starting to open up as our students (and maybe some of our teachers and parents) start blogging with each other.