Comments on: If only I had blogged sooner http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/ tales of swimming upstream Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:23:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Running with Scissors » Blog Archive » Reflecting http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-211 Running with Scissors » Blog Archive » Reflecting Mon, 30 Jan 2006 03:58:11 +0000 http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-211 [...] tha has written two excellent posts about this - one on how a blog can be a way for you to hold on to your thoughts and thinking process, and another on how your memories are “fact” to [...] […] tha has written two excellent posts about this - one on how a blog can be a way for you to hold on to your thoughts and thinking process, and another on how your memories are “fact” to […]

]]> By: Gardner Writes » Blog Archive » Spam getting through the Karma (but I didn’t mind) http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-206 Gardner Writes » Blog Archive » Spam getting through the Karma (but I didn’t mind) Fri, 27 Jan 2006 19:52:52 +0000 http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-206 [...] esty, at least dignity and purpose intact. (Apologies to Ralph Waldo E.) Following on from Martha’s thoughts on how blogs re-mind you–that is, give you your mind back again by returning [...] […] esty, at least dignity and purpose intact. (Apologies to Ralph Waldo E.) Following on from Martha’s thoughts on how blogs re-mind you–that is, give you your mind back again by returning […]

]]> By: The Fish Wrapper » Blog Archive » Memory Making http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-178 The Fish Wrapper » Blog Archive » Memory Making Fri, 27 Jan 2006 01:49:04 +0000 http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-178 [...] on some artifact of your life and not recognizing it as representing you. It reminds me of a post of my own from a few days ago, in which I wondered about how my experience of graduate school could [...] […] on some artifact of your life and not recognizing it as representing you. It reminds me of a post of my own from a few days ago, in which I wondered about how my experience of graduate school could […]

]]> By: Gardner http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-161 Gardner Wed, 18 Jan 2006 19:22:03 +0000 http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-161 Tama, I think that last point is especially important. Along those lines, I've been very tempted to ask for all my papers to come in digitally so I can mark them up on my tablet, return them digitally, and keep a copy for just the kind of reference you describe above. Over time I have become impatient with the "swap a stack of wood pulp" transaction that paper writing, handing in, marking, and returning ends up being. (Inelegant sentence, but you get the point.) Tama, I think that last point is especially important. Along those lines, I’ve been very tempted to ask for all my papers to come in digitally so I can mark them up on my tablet, return them digitally, and keep a copy for just the kind of reference you describe above. Over time I have become impatient with the “swap a stack of wood pulp” transaction that paper writing, handing in, marking, and returning ends up being. (Inelegant sentence, but you get the point.)

]]> By: Tama http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-160 Tama Wed, 18 Jan 2006 04:13:54 +0000 http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-160 Great post - I completely agree that a post-as-conversation certainly extends the time and manner in which you engage with and expand ideas beyond written notes or journals only seen by a few eyes. Having the archive online and especially its searchability has also worked well for bringing me back to my own writing; I'm often too lazy to hunt down old notes in paperform, but the one-click searchability of my blogs makes them a very accessible resource. Even if I have forgotten some of what I wrote, having it close at hand makes me more inclined to expand those ideas by re-engaging with them. Also, having run several course blog, I find it far easier to check back over student work and trends (both during and after courses) to see areas I could be improving since their responses and papers are never lost to me. :) Great post - I completely agree that a post-as-conversation certainly extends the time and manner in which you engage with and expand ideas beyond written notes or journals only seen by a few eyes.

Having the archive online and especially its searchability has also worked well for bringing me back to my own writing; I’m often too lazy to hunt down old notes in paperform, but the one-click searchability of my blogs makes them a very accessible resource. Even if I have forgotten some of what I wrote, having it close at hand makes me more inclined to expand those ideas by re-engaging with them.

Also, having run several course blog, I find it far easier to check back over student work and trends (both during and after courses) to see areas I could be improving since their responses and papers are never lost to me. :)

]]> By: Jerry http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-159 Jerry Wed, 18 Jan 2006 03:43:45 +0000 http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-159 Excellent post Martha! This makes me wonder if a blog would be a central component in an Electronic Portfolio - seems like it would. It also makes me wonder if the approach we have taken in the THEA 435 class with the blogs (http://smoothelephant.org/category/projects/thea435/) is as good as it could be considering the blogs we are providing for those students will likely be used just for this one course, then forgotten - kind of like your written journal. I'm trying to figure out how we might address this in the THEA 435 course (for next time it is taught that is!). A different approach might be to have students use their own "personal" blog and post their THEA 435 stuff in a THEA 435 category. This would be a blog that they can take with them after the course is over. But on the other hand, do we want to mix school work for credit with the other things a student might like to blog about in their personal lives outside of school? Maybe a blog that was simply a "school" blog and part of an electronic portfolio would be a solution? Seems like we need to start looking long and hard at an enterprise blogging package for UMW. Maybe we need to have a "conversation" about this Martha. :) Excellent post Martha!

This makes me wonder if a blog would be a central component in an Electronic Portfolio - seems like it would. It also makes me wonder if the approach we have taken in the THEA 435 class with the blogs (http://smoothelephant.org/category/projects/thea435/) is as good as it could be considering the blogs we are providing for those students will likely be used just for this one course, then forgotten - kind of like your written journal.

I’m trying to figure out how we might address this in the THEA 435 course (for next time it is taught that is!). A different approach might be to have students use their own “personal” blog and post their THEA 435 stuff in a THEA 435 category. This would be a blog that they can take with them after the course is over. But on the other hand, do we want to mix school work for credit with the other things a student might like to blog about in their personal lives outside of school? Maybe a blog that was simply a “school” blog and part of an electronic portfolio would be a solution? Seems like we need to start looking long and hard at an enterprise blogging package for UMW.

Maybe we need to have a “conversation” about this Martha. :)

]]> By: Gardner http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-158 Gardner Tue, 17 Jan 2006 23:09:47 +0000 http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/01/18/if-only-i-had-blogged-sooner/#comment-158 And you'll have a blog to link to, a blog that contextualizes this entry in an even richer metacontext. And of course a blog is searchable, as folders and paper journals are not. This kind of "fixing," the way one "fixes" a photograph so that the developed image doesn't fade or darken, is one very important aspect of what we call "reflection." It's a kind of self-instruction that goes on in parallel with the input. Active learning always involves multiple streams of attention, I think. And you’ll have a blog to link to, a blog that contextualizes this entry in an even richer metacontext. And of course a blog is searchable, as folders and paper journals are not.

This kind of “fixing,” the way one “fixes” a photograph so that the developed image doesn’t fade or darken, is one very important aspect of what we call “reflection.” It’s a kind of self-instruction that goes on in parallel with the input. Active learning always involves multiple streams of attention, I think.

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