When I read the Ewan had accidentally deleted his blog I literally felt sick to my stomach. I can’t imagine what I would do if that happened to me. (Actually, today I tweaked the template a bit and accidentally hit the “Restore Default Template” button. Oy. Luckily there was a confirm message, but that was enough to get my heart beating a bit faster.) I know that my blog host makes backups of everything, but still. I’m sure until I got it recontructed I’d be in agony.
But isn’t that the way we would want our students to feel if they suddenly lost the work that they had created? I wonder how many of them would. How many of them feel enough connection and ownership to the work they do to literally mourn the loss of that work? What does that say about what happens when you build a portfolio of conversations and ideas in this way, so that when you lose it you’ll spend hours, maybe days, trying to recreate it? What does that say about the work we’re giving them to do?
This is a bit different, isn’t it?
I love this comment that Ewan leaves at the end of the thread:
Thankfully I’ve managed to go back through the archive and save large number of the conversations I’ve valued in shaping my own opinions. Time to write a book, I think, and get them all on static (safe) paper 😉
He’s kidding, of course, but he’s also making an important point. All of this, from the technology to the transparency to the unknowable audience is more of a risk. And that’s of course what makes it difficult for many to take on. The good news is, the reward for this risk is well worth it, at least for me. And I’m guessing Ewan would still agree.
That actually happened to me, too. Only it was my host that managed to do it. I got a new host, but my content is gone.