Katkin’s weBLOG

Welcome to my weBLOG…

As I take my first steps into real, online blogging, I must confess that I do so with great anticipation, but also with some concern and some trepidation. There’s a duality to risk taking, isn’t there? There is that fear of stepping out of your comfort zone into the unknown, countered by that insatiable curiosity, that propels you toward that final leap into uncertainty. It’s a little like stepping off the edge of a cliff and repelling down the side, all the while hoping the harness will hold.

I have called my first public effort “weBLOG” for several reasons. First of all, I prefer the term “weblog” to describe the process of online journaling and publishing, better known as “blogging”. I like “weblog” because it more or less describes what it is… a web log… like a ship’s log or a pilot’s log that records a journey. I also decided to use lower case to write the “we” in web. My intention was to highlight the “we” as the first person plural, as a salute to the collective, the group, and the collaborative process. If you read the title as “we blog” there is the subtle inference that we’re all participating in this new experience together.

I will say that I have had a little previous experience using blogs, but always within the safe confines of our divisional portal system… not in the “real world”. Inside our “Sharepoint” setup, all divisional users are able to set up blogs and wikis to use within the parameters of our job as educators… but this is a highly controlled environment. After looking at several public weblog providers, I chose edublog (WordPress) because of its direct appeal to educators (even mentions librarians)… and I was amazed at how fast I was up and running… literally in minutes. However, once you’re up, it is really just the beginning.

On first exploration, it is immediately obvious that there is much to learn. I liked the pop-up boxes with helpful tips and I have also found the startup videos very useful. I soon found that I could spend hours in the design area, trying out new layouts, and I’m still working on adding content to the sidebars. It can be an addictive process to personalize a weblog and tailor the content to the author’s needs and interests. No wonder this kind of ownership is so attractive to today’s young learners.

However, I will admit that the notion of suddenly posting my thoughts and information out to the vast Internet remains somewhat daunting. After all, I wouldn’t leave my diary open for everyone to read… so why would I want to post my personal thoughts and ideas to a global audience? And yet, back in 1989, this was the original intent by World Wide Web creator, Tim Berners-Lee… to create an online meeting place where users could read and write, contribute and collaborate.

This “new transparency,” as Will Richardson refers to it, in the first chapter of his book entitled Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2008), acknowledges that these new social networking tools make our lives more “transparent to others” and I would add, more vulnerable. There is a new expectation that we put our thoughts “out there” for others to read and to comment on… but in doing so, it would seem that we open ourselves up to a truly unique learning opportunity… not only to learn from others, but to also learn about ourselves.

-katkin