Karen’s post at BW has me thinking. She says “I just really want to know what happens when teachers are given access to a web that lets them focus on content, not design.” Something there really resonates, and I think it is that idea of content, not design. When I do web projects, I focus a lot on design. In my Web Pages and Portfolios class, we talk about creating friendly spaces. We put a lot of time into how it looks. Same when I do my own stuff. I like the way this page looks. I like the colors, etc. No major tweaks from the original Blogger template, but still mine. But I know .html. I CAN tweak it, and I know most classroom teachers can’t. They don’t have the interest or the time. They don’t want to negotiate servers or passwords or designs or all that stuff; they want to focus on content.

As I think about the motivation of the basic blogger, I think the content does come first. One of the reasons that Blogger has become so popular is because it is SO EASY. Fill in a form, click a few buttons, and your ideas and deepest darkest secrets are up there for the entire world to see. It’s a powerful thing, that audience piece of it. When I first realized that people (however few) were reading my weblog, I got butterflies…really! And, I got a sense of purpose and desire to continue. I mean I know that I’m still mostly doing this for me, but I am starting to feel a part of a community of thinkers and writers and doers, and that audience is vital, however small it may be. Design and wide ranging capability is secondary. (It’s like my wife (who, by the way, looks to be on the verge of signing a content contract with Gateway) says, the rule of 80/20: eighty percent of software users use 20 percent of the software, doesn’t matter the package.)

The point here is that I just don’t think the average classroom teacher is going to want to do more than a) easily create a space for his/her classroom and b) have students easily create space where they can, as Karen says, “publish, get and give feedback, and [use] as a ‘home base’ for a community to develop.” So the question then becomes what is the best/easiest way to do this. (And this is a relevant question for me as I’m going to be doing a 2-day workshop this summer in weblogs.)

To me, the answer is Blogger, specifically Blogspot. It has its limitations, I know. But, can they publish? Yes. Get feedback? Well, with a little bit of setup, yes; kids can create a team (which I don’t think is necessarily any easier to do in Manilla). Can they create a sense of community? Yes; my kids have proven that. Now I know there are ads to deal with, and it’s not a perfect world. But IT IS EASY! And as someone who has a lot of experience training teachers on technology, that is paramount. Pat and Terry and I are into weblogs, but we’re also to some extent into the technology. We like figuring out how to make it work and how to tweak it. The vast majority of teachers aren’t. They just want it to work, and want it to be easy. And actually Blogger allows them to take that next step if they want and if they have the tech staff to make it happen. I admit, I don’t know enough about Manilla and Radio to know for sure that it’s not just as easy. But if my dealings with it are any indication…

So let the debate begin…