As mentioned in the fifth blogging challenge: blogging is about writing, but it begins with reading. In a his blog post “Learning Isn’t Collecting, It’s Connecting,” Mike Sturm points out the difference between collecting and connecting in learning:
You see, knowledge is not something you gather and collect, it’s something you make. You forge it out of information that you have connected with principles and concepts. So no amount of reading and information consumption will make you more intelligent, if you don’t do the work of making connections, and thus creating a lasting fabric of knowledge.
I think a mistake that we often make is to view learning as collecting, rather than connecting. You collect information, but you can only gain knowledge by connecting that information.
To illustrate what I mean here, imagine that you would like to build a house for you and your partner. You get a list and put on it all of the materials you’ll need: lumber, nails, drywall, shingles, siding, etc. You order it all, as well as the tools you’ll need, and have it dropped in the empty lot where the house will be. You now have all of the pieces of the house, ready to go. But you still don’t have a house.
It has become increasingly easier to collect and share “stuff,” such as information, links, tweets, images quotes, and blogs. What has suffered in the process is the connection-making between the stuff and how it connects to our learning.
In Challenge 16 you will not only share five favorite blogs you read, but you will also share a reflective summary about each blog and include connections to your learning. (Note: if you are not a regular blog reader, take look at Medium.com, where you can search the blog-location website based on your areas of interest.)
To complete this challenge, follow these steps:
- Choose five blogs you enjoy reading.
- Create a new blog post that includes a summary recommendation for each blog (including author’s name and blog’s title with hyperlinked URL address) and makes connections to one or more of the following:
- your professional learning – How does this blog contribute to your area of expertise and learning or passion you are currently investigating?
- your personal learning – How does this blog add value to your learning area of interest or passion you are currently investigating?
- your interest – Why has this blog caught your attention? Why do you enjoy reading it?
- learning of others – How does this blog contribute and add value to the learning of others?
- Title, save, and publish your post.
After you have completed your challenge to create a Five Blogs You Read blog post, please include the URL link to your post in the Leave a Reply comment section below to share with us and your documenting community. Check back regularly to see what others have posted!
Added Amplification: Tweet or share on Instagram the link to your Five Blogs You Read blog post. Be sure to include the hashtags #documenting4learning, #blogrecommendations, and #DLBloggingChallenge16, as well as any appropriate hashtags for the learning topic.
Here are two blog recommendation summary examples to inspire you as you prepare to write your blog post content:
Jenny Luca’s Lucacept – Intercepting the Web
My Recommendation:
Jenny is Head of Information Services at a school in Australia. She blogs regularly on a variety of subjects, among them 21st century learning, libraries, and information literacy. I enjoy Jenny’s blogging style very much because her thoughts are outlined clearly and supported with quality links (leading to interesting resources or an older, related blog post) or relevant embedded media (images or video).
Rodd Lucier’s The Clever Sheep
My Recommendation:
The blog’s title is intriguing enough to start reading Rodd’s blog, but it is the tag line that makes me come back and look forward to his posts: …leading in new directions. In his own words he is “on the lookout for opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations with others who see themselves as learners.” On his blog you will find ideas and resources to upgrade your traditionally taught lessons to the 21st century. As a teacher and consultant, Rodd shares specific examples with illustrated images to broaden his readers’ horizon, and to start them THINKING about leading in a new direction.