Blogging can make you smarter

Did you know writing down your ideas can actually make you smarter? I have an intuitive sense of this, as a pretty avid blogger, but I was thrilled to read this message in the closing chapter of Dr. Stephen Krashen's excellent book "The Power of Reading, Second Edition: Insights from the Research." On page 137 under the heading "What Writing Does, he wrote:

Although writing does not help us develop writing style [Krashen contends READING develops writing style], writing has other virtues. As Smith (1988) has pointed out, we write for at least two reasons. First, and most obvious, we write to communicate with others. But perhaps more important, we write for ourselves, to clarify and stimulate our thinking. Most of our writing, even if we are published authors, is for ourselves.

As Elbow (1973) has noted, it is difficult to hold more than one thought in mind at a time. When we write our ideas down, the vague and abstract become clear and concrete. When thoughts are on paper, we can see the relationships among them, and can come up with better thoughts. Writing, in other words, can make you smarter.

The context of these sentences from Dr. Krashen is WRITING in general. He is not specifically addressing blogging or digital writing. However, I think his conclusions (well documented with references to educational research) are equally applicable to the blogosphere.

People blog for different reasons, and all of those reasons have value. In the past, people were much more limited in their abilities to publish and share their ideas with a global audience. That has changed dramatically in the 21st century, however, as ANYONE with access to a computer and the Internet has access to "the global stage." Whether writing on the "global stage" or a private, personal paper-based letter, writing can stimulate thoughts, and many of those can be "higher order" thoughts involving analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Writing (not simply copying and pasting information with a web browser and word processor) is inherently a CREATIVE act. That process therefore has inherent, creative and ideological value. (Ideological in terms of helping people further develop ideas.)

Is the greatest value I personally derive from blogging this process of clarifying thoughts, literally "getting smarter" via writing? I'm not sure. I know that aspect holds great value, but I think the CONNECTIONS which are fostered via blogging as well as the CONVERSATIONS are at least of equal value, if not more.

The more we blog, the more we reflect, the more we think and write about learning and our practices as professional educators, the smarter we're all going to get! Dr. Stephen Krashen, Emeritus Professor at the University of Southern California, confirms this conclusion is supported by educational research! Isn't that cool, as well as affirming?!

Blog on... and tag on... The world is watching, reading, and often even writing back! What would Neil Postman say about all these digitally-empowered conversations if he was alive to read blogs and possibly even write on one today? I don't know, but I think he might need to revise some of his observations and conclusions in his book "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business."

Many if not most of the people participating in online blog conversations have moved far beyond "The Age of Show Business." We've entered the era of participatory culture, and the conversations are really just getting started. Think how smart we'll all be in ten years if we keep this up?! [grin] It kinda makes my head hurt to try and look that far into the future!

Want to help your students literally get smarter? Consider involving more of them in moderated, online blog conversations!

Social Networking as Professional Development

Will Richardson has written:"I've learned more in my four-plus years as a blogger than I have in all my years of formal education." He's not talking about blogging as a teaching tool--he's talking about blogging as a personal and professional development tool. And he's saying that it's been a better learning tool than all his formal schooling. How could that be?

It's because, for Will and many others of us, to blog is to be engaged in really meaningful conversations about education. Indeed, the tools of Web 2.0 (or the "read/write Web") often trigger a personal learning renaissance. I now engage daily with great thinkers as I use the tools of Web 2.0 to read, to listen, to interview, and then to blog myself.

But let's face the reality of talking about the value of blogging to educators. It's not easy. Most educators are far too busy to squeeze in another hour (or more) to each workday to 1) learn how set up a blog, 2) start writing in it, 3) comment on others blogs, 4) learn how to track the conversations that take place where they comment, and then 5) "speak to the empty room" for six months before their audience builds up. So, is there an easier way to experience the value of blogging and the read/write web? The answer is yes, and it's coming from somewhere I never expected it to: a social networking site.

I've watched the MySpace phenomenon, and have even gotten an account there--and while I understand the appeal of creation and connection that it provides, just haven't felt it was worth any time for me (the unsolicited "friendship" invitations from immodestly-dressed young women to this 45-year-old male are, let's face it, not believable and just plain creepy). When Facebook opened its doors to the general public, and because I have a daughter in college, I got an account to see what it was all about. I have to say, I've been pleasantly surprised. Facebook has none of the garish ads that make MySpace so busy, and the ability to connect socially in appropriate ways with total transparency is actually kind of comforting to me as a parent (I know more about what my kids are doing because of it than I did before). But as good as Facebook is for social interaction, it really isn't that great at facilitating an in-depth dialog. I started and joined several Facebook "groups," but there don't have any good tools for engaged conversations, and mostly the feedback I've seen from other participants is: "OK, I'm here. Now what?"

But then I tried Ning.

Co-founded by Marc Andreessen (of Netscape fame), Ning has evolved into a fascinating kind of "do-it-yourself" social networking site that probably didn't make sense to anybody except those working on it, but now that it is out is something of a "wow" experience. It could be, for educators and students, the perfect way to test out the waters of Web 2.0 quickly and easily. Ning's social networking platform introduces you to some of the most engaging aspects of the read/write web: social networking (of course), user profiles, blogging, forums, photo and video sharing, and even RSS!

Encouraged by a "Library 2.0" network that had been started at Ning (and that currently has over 700 members), I created a "Classroom 2.0" social network in a just few hours last Friday. While I would encourage you to join Classroom 2.0 just to see how it works and to network with some great folks who are talking about the read/write web in the classroom, here's the best part: you can now create your own social network. A class, a school, a district, a region, or any other group you care about can now be introduced to the benefits of engaged dialog on the web with very little work and safely. Profiles can be anonymous, and both the network creator and each user can opt to approve content and comments before they are posted. All that we have to do to make this completely student-friendly is to get Ning to allow educators to eliminate the default Google ads for bikini/singles stuff. (For $20/month you can turn the ads off, but they can do better than that for educators. I'm emailing them a copy of this post.)

So if you've been looking for an easier way to be part of the Web 2.0 revolution, give Ning a shot. See you there!