The evolution of writing: Have we hidden the true meaning of Web 2?
I have enjoyed reading a blog of a newcomer, Gran, who is taking a class with a trainer named, Geoff.
Gran says:
Until today I've had a disdainful attitude abt blogs, bloggers, thought, "HOW narcissistic!" ...
Gran says:
Until today I've had a disdainful attitude abt blogs, bloggers, thought, "HOW narcissistic!" Hah! Our lives ARE narcissistic. Who’s running around inside our brains all the time, anyway? Only ONE person, and that wud be moi. Humans are wired for narcissism. Nobody else runs our show, the movie of our lives, unless we give our power away. When the focus is sharing and connecting, narcissism is a nonissue. I’m excited about what we’re doing, and I say thank you, Geoff!
It is important to take a look at what people coming on board with technology say. I think this whole discussion is less about blogging or twittering or whatever-ing but rather about electronic publication.
We are trading in pen and paper for electronic modes of publication, whatever they are called.
It just so happens that the medium for many forms of easy electronic publication is called Web 2.0 but let's not get so tied up in the words and terms that we escalate them to late great innovations like Cuneiform and the slateboard and the pencil or pen when it came along in mass quantities. This is yet another evolution in writing and surely, though we cannot imagine them, there will be many more to come.
I wonder if more educators would be more friendly to modes of electronic publication if we called it "electronic publication!?"
We (or perhaps the marketers) wrap these new modes of publication up in new words and hide their meaning like Gollum hiding "the precious."
What we're doing on blogs, wikis, podcasts, and yes, even microblogging platforms (twitter) has been around, it has just been reinvented in a very dramatic and exciting way.
It is about improving communication and facilitating effective, meaningful, educated, civilized conversation. And when it gets students excited about communicating and learning, then it just becomes a number one friend of a good teacher.
Welcome, Gran, to the world of electronic publication. It sounds like Geoff is doing a great job! Would love to see Geoff share with us some of the blogs of the other folks in the class.
tag: blogging, teaching, staff development, education