The latest issue of Education Update from ASCD has the above titled article as a feature. It takes somewhat of a different tact in that it presents blogs as a teacher support tool, which, of course, it can be.
Blogs, or Web logs, are increasingly popular among teachers seeking support and advice on managing their classrooms more effectively. Topics discussed in blogs range from perspectives on education policy and curriculum issues to effective classroom management tips and personal survival strategies.
Here’s the shocker, though…at least to me:
Of the 10 million to 15 million people who blog daily, technical experts estimate that only a few hundred thousand are educators. “Most [of them] are younger teachers coming out of teacher-ed programs,” says Nussbaum-Beach. “They’re the ones who are comfortable with virtual-type tools.”
A few hundred thousand edu-bloggers!?! OMG! My 150 (now 167) feed limit is about to get blown out of the water…
No disrespect, but there’s no way there are that many teachers out there “blogging daily.” I’m guessing a thousand, maybe, and that’s given a lot of leash to the “daily” part. Using blogs? Maybe four or five times that many. It’s hard to tell.
But if we get to the day that a few hundred thousand educators are blogging daily, I will GUARANTEE you schools as we know them will be long, long gone.
I think that it’s a great thing for more teachers to be blogging. I am in a Teacher-Ed program now and have been learning alot from ed-blogs. Also, like you said, teachers can learn from eachother. I’v been following one of my teacher friend’s personal blogging sites and as she is working in an inner city school I find her experiences extremely insightful. So not only exclusive teaching information but personal stories on blogs can encourage and educate pre-teachers and those with experience.
Just as a FYI– Will Richardson’s post tied my quote to this estimate. John Franklin never asked me for a number of educational bloggers and he never shared with me any of the stats he gave in the above mentioned article. I do not have any idea how many educational bloggers are out there– but I’d love to know if anyone does.
Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach