3.0 ["Weblogs: Let's Get Started"]

Two things I appreciated from this chapter: at the end Richardson reproduces Blogger's "Good Educator's Blogs". Not all the links are necessarily the same, as some have moved hosts, but the authors remain:

• David Warlick
• Clay Burrell
• Chris Lehmann
• George Siemens
• Jeff Utecht
• Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
• Stephen Downes
• danah boyd
• Tom Hoffman
• Vicki Davis
• Shelly Blake-Plock
• Clarence Fisher

If/when I make time I'll link to their current blogs/Twitter handles/FB pages/WordPress/Tumblr/Instagram/websites or whatever tools they're using, but I find I read at least one of these people every week. Making one's voice heard in education and technology is easy, nowadays, and most of these folks have found multiple outlets.

Another thing I liked from the chapter was (p. 45) Richardson's suggestion to have students start with reading blogs before writing. The same principle applies as students learn to write in other media and forms -- for example, to help students become poets we encourage them to read poetry, and to help them become musicians we expect them to listen to a variety of musical styles. He says "good blogging starts with good reading", and I would extend that to incorporate evaluating for authority and other aspects of value as they learn to craft their own blogs.