Towards the end of last year, I wrote a posting about some of my favourite blogs about eLearning. I will now expand on that, looking at a few great examples of the bloggers art, but taking a much wider perspective. At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, teachers have interests other than teaching and learning, and so do learners. These interests are reflected in what they read about in printed media, and so it will be for blogs.
In an attempt to make sense of the whole area, I have been reflecting on whether or not it was useful to put blogs into categories. To be honest, I am still not entirely convinced of the value of this approach, but the idea is an interesting one. I like the way that Margaret Simons has gone about this at http://www.apo.org.au/commentary/towards-taxonomy-blogs-0 so I have used her categories, with a one or two sub-headings of my own. I have pulled out some of the most interesting from my RSS feeds, skipping the items which were clearly newsfeeds rather than blogs, and placed them under these headings.
These blogs come from a range of sources: a look down the domain names tells you immediately that some are corporate, while others are clearly homespun. Some bloggers tread an interesting line between the personal and the professional, and between the chatty and the literary. Hasn’t this got to be great for engagement, for citizenship and for learning? See what you think of this approach….
The Pamphleteering blog
This one is about climate change, and it gives a fascinating insight into events at COP15 in Copenhagen last December. Like many, I followed this closely through the mainstream media, but this blog gives another perspective. http://tcktcktck.org/stories/campaign-stories/not-fab-deal-we-need-so-we-must-fight
The Digest Blog
Metastwnsh. This blog could have gone into any (or perhaps all?) of these categories. It covers technology, the arts, and language issues, amongst other areas. It’s in the Welsh language, making it a great opportunity for learners to engage. If you get lost in the language, by the way, there is always Google Translate to help you out.
The Advocacy Blog
Here are three blogs by leading politicians in Wales. It’s very interesting to see how their remarks here relate to their utterances in other media. Use of blogs is an aspect of campaigning in which politicians are still feeling their way. (This selection tells you nothing about my political allegiances, by the way).
http://peterblack.blogspot.com/
http://www.leightonandrews.com/
http://www.adampriceblog.org.uk/
The ‘Popular Mechanics’ blog (or ‘How to do stuff’)
Examples are too numerous to mention. I like ‘My Tiny Plot’; it’s about gardening. http://www.mytinyplot.co.uk/.
The ‘exhibition’ blog
Stephen Fry needs no introduction. He normally blogs at http://www.stephenfry.com/, but is currently on ‘sabbatical’. Archives are at http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10917.Stephen_Fry/blog.
The gatewatcher blog
If I read this correctly, this is about focus, independence and expertise. Hence a site belonging to a government, broadcasting corporation, or a national newspaper would not qualify. For its genuinely free-thinking nature, I suggest Hans Rosling’s work at Gapminder is a good example.
Another example is ‘Bad Science’, wherein Ben Goldacre takes a critical look at all kinds of research. The blog is more informal than his newspaper column of the same title.
The diary blog
The Disability Bitch gives her cogent thoughts from a disabled person about life, the universe and everything. A corporate blog with a homespun feel.
The Radio 3 blog. Witty and erudite material from musicians. If you have ever wondered how professional orchestral musicians spend their time between concerts, look no further…
“Quixotic Quisling“. Carl Morris says: “It’s about language, music, art, business and other stuff I care about.”
The Advertisement blog
I am not going to name any. There are plenty out there.
The news blog
These are everywhere, especially if you include newstreams, which are sometimes indistinguishable from blogs. Most of the political pundits in the broadcasting industry seem to have a least one, and those people already have ample opportunity to make themselves heard. However, some reporters manage to add a bit more of their own personality to their reports when they are blogging. A good example is Betsan Powys http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/.