Ed Blogging 2003

Just want to take a couple minutes to recap my 2003 from a blogging sense. A lot has changed, I think. More teachers and students blogging. More good writing to read. More great thinking about how best to employ this technology. Even though we may not yet be as close to the “tipping point” for ed blogging as I once thought, one look at my aggregator shows just how much innovative thinking there is going on out there. So here, in no particular order, and with very little in the way of explanation, are some ed bloggers of note and some others thrown in from the past year.

Most Enthusiastic Ed Bloggger–Anne Davis
Best Over My Head Ed Blogger–Tom Hoffman
Ed Blogger Rookie of the Year–Nancy Peralta
My Favorite Blogger in a Non-Educational Role–Jay Rosen, Josh Marshall (tie)
Ed Blogger I’d Most Like to Write Like–Terry Elliot
Ed Blogger Site Redesign of the Year–Pam Pritchard
Most Relevant (to me at least) Classroom User of Blogs–Kaye Trammell
Environmental Blogger of the Year–Dave Pollard
Student Blogger of the Year–Suzan S.
Most Missed Ed Bloggers–Sarah Lohnes, Sebatian Fiedler (tie)
Ed Blogging Principal of the Year–Tim Lauer
Best Use of Metaphor to Explain Consistently Important Ed Blogger Thinking–Pat Delaney
Higher Ed Blogger Who Best Translates to K-12–Dan Mitchell, Mike Arnzen, Ken Smith (tie)
K-12 Ed Blogger Site of the Year–EdBlogger Praxis
Ed Blogger App of the Year–Bloglines

Some major ed blogging questions I’d like to get answers to in 2004:

Do Weblogs improve a student’s ability to write? (Terry?)
Can you build an online community with a Weblog based school Website?
Is the skill of blogging important enough to teach as a separate genre?
Will Manila development lead it to greater heights, or will it slide further into obscurity?
Who is going to provide access to blogging for the thousands (if not millions) of kids out there who currently don’t have it?
Will Weblogs allow for more participation in the political process for students and teachers?
Where will Ed Blogger II be and when? (New Orleans in June???)
Can I keep up a personal and professional Weblog at the same time?

There are many more people and many more questions to note, I’m sure. This has been a wonderful year for me thanks in large part to the new friends that I’ve made in the Ed Blogger community, the opportunities for blogvangelism that have come along, and the very cool work that my students and teachers at my school are doing with Weblogs. It’s one of the many things I’m looking forward to in 2004. To all of you who have contributed to this journey, my heartfelt thanks, and my sincerest wishes for a peaceful and prosperous new year.