A spin-off of RosarioBlogDay, MateyBlogs, the first collaborative blogging workshop in Rosario, took place today at CEC combining one of our dearest Argentinian traditions with the 2.0 spirit.

After three brief presentations conducted by Fernanda Rubio, Francisco Sanguinetti on how to integrate mutimedia content, and Federico Aikawa, who shared some practical blogging tips, we divided ourselves into three groups to share experiences and discuss questions with the coordinators. Surprisingly enough, I was in a group full of teachers! I was especially glad to meet Gabriela Spadoni and María Sabina Codarín, Edublogger Argento members, after our failed f2f meeting last night.

The wrap up presentation was in charge of Federico Picone who discussed the importance of social networks and other Web 2.0 tools.

Some tools that were mentioned:
Gickr
Luna Pic
Photoshop Express
Twitxr
Alianzo

Once again, it was great to meet such an enthusiastic and diverse community of ArgenBloggers face to face.

See you all at the next MateyBlogs!

When Blogging4Educators started, I understood we had designed a number of environments to interact with participants, mainly, our YG and two blogs to host weekly discussions. During the first two weeks, fascinating conversations developed as we shaped, defined and built ideas dialogically on our blog threads.

On week 3, however, the task was to post entries and tag them blogging4educators and/or b4echallenge. We started experimenting with the power of tagging not only to organize, classify and describe our user-generated content on the web, but as a way of bringing conversations together, helping our edublogs talk to each other by decentralizing the discussion. We all started reflecting on different aspects of the week’s topic making it even more enriching and multifaceted as we allowed the new bloggers in our session to find their voice and to build their own readership. (Not bad in less than 4 weeks!)

So instead of converging on one spot, conversations are distributed, helping ideas flow creating interconnected semantic contexts. We are generating blogtalk, edublogtalk, metablogtalk, we are seeding the web with our ideas, but through tagging we are generating a context that helps us build open circles of thought and interaction.  

Since week 4 started, I’ve been reading non-stop. From Konrad Glogowsky’s reflective post to Lilian’s teaching context and Carla’s reaction with Fear 2.0 plus all their comments!  I simply don’t know where to start contributing to the discussion. It’s so deep, so broad, so complex and so essential.  As Will Richardson said in The New Face of Learning “In this new interactive Web world, I have become a nomadic learner; I graze on knowledge”.  I guess this post is just to say I’ll feed a bit more on your reflections and add my own piece to this learning puzzle. What do we talk about when we talk about blogs in education?

Image: this is what Edublogtalk looks like in Websites as Graphs

Related readings: Deconstructed Distributed Conversations
                                 The Web as Distributed Knowledge

- I attended kindergarten in New York City and cried every single day because I couldn’t understand what my teacher said. (See related post)

- I studied drama for seven years and performed in a play called “Wonders in the Land of the Alices”.  In 1998, I decided to quit and focus on Teaching Training College since at the time I worked as a secretary and I really hated that job. I do think, however, I still channel my creativity into teaching.

- I have button phobia. Yes, that’s right! Buttons! (I don’t even like the word) People generally don’t believe me or simply laugh at me when I tell them about it, but I’ve discovered I’m not the only one. Check this out: Unusual Phobias – buttons from Unusual Phobias

- I don’t drink alcohol at all. No particular reason. I’ve simply never tried it. Oh, but I love chocolate! I’m a chocoholic.

- I’m a big fan of Woody Allen. I love his films, especially the ones he made between 1977 and 1992 (i.e. From Annie Hall to Husbands and Wives – the classics ) When I was in 4^th year in high school, we saw “Another Woman” in my Philosophy class and I’ve watched every new film he’s made ever since. (My secret dream: to be in one of his movies. Maybe I can play the role of an English teacher who lives in NYC and goes to the shrink because she has a phobia of … you know! )

I’m now in the hands of Technorati.

Who’s next?

The Blogging Season
No, I’m not into gardening at all, but I have always found metaphors essential to grasp new concepts and to connect to them emotionally. Just as flower buds look fresh and promising anticipating spring, the beginning of the blogging season at EVO always fills us with renewed hope and an undeniable sense of excitement as we build broader networks of educators who will not settle and who are ready to explore new grounds for their teaching on the web.

Budding Blogs
The first two weeks at Blogging4Educators have been really hectic. 169 participants + 10 moderators have exchanged more than 600 messages with introductions, questions, tips, accomplishments, help requests  and invitations, building initial bonds of fellowship  and trust. During the last couple of days, however, most of the subject lines include the words “My New Blog”. It’s just moving to see all the care and dedication teachers have put into their budding blogs, from choosing a template that transmits the right atmosphere to a name that reflects the purpose of their blogging journey.  The first posts generally include first impressions and reflections on the creation process, introductions to the online world, technical considerations, aims and statements of purpose. There are blogs related to art, university, high-school and primary classes, brain-based learning, reflections, etc. Many participants have also found their own metaphors for their blogs. There are boomerangs, watercolors, chats, potpourris and as many compelling concepts as a lively group of enthusiastic teachers can put together. Just as they come up,  we are proud to witness an emerging ecosystem of edublogs on our session’s Pageflakes.

Seeding the Web
As first attempts to connect to each other, these budding bloggers proudly published their new URLs on the YG and in their comments on colleagues’ blogs. They also started building their blogrolls, spreading links to other blogs into the new B4Ed blogosphere. This reminds me of dandelions which spread their seeds worldwide.  While many people consider dandelions an invasive weed, others claim their health benefits and write poems to their beauty. Similarly, blogs are seen by some as trivial online journals that plague the web whereas an increasing number of educators can account for their relevance in the learning process. In particular, these ubiquitous flowers have a very special meaning for me since after my immediate reaction to their questions about dandelions through a post on our class blog , my TOEFL students understood the importance of contributing their knowledge and resources and sharing information about topics that interested them with the whole group. However, unlike dandelions whose seeds develop without any special attention, blogs continue growing and spreading ideas on the web through the perseverance and commitment of the authors and the contribution of thoughtful readers. It is our intention at Blogging4Educators to facilitate meaningful connections and knowledge sharing among participants as our blogging skills flourish and become deeply rooted in our teaching practice.  

Dear B4Eders, A bunch of hugs for all of you!

Related Google search: budding blogs, metaphors and dandelions
Delve into the mind of a Budding Blogger
Why dandelions?
Dandelion blog
My dandelion patch 

Three days before EVO 2008 official launch, the action has already started at Blogging4Educators. There are more than 110 participants from all over the world eager to exchange greetings and introductions and to share resources and expectations.

The preparation process has been such a lively experience! Some time ago I defined our work as “messy collaboration and compelling creativity”. Now, after four months working with my dear Blogging Teammates, I should add restless editing and intercultural constructivism! We’ve been blogging across time zones (Japan, UAE, Ukraine, UK, USA, Brazil, Argentina) juggling school work, family vacations, moving houses…. Why do we do this? Simply because we learn so much together! It great to see all the different learning environments we’ve set up, but the best thing is that these spaces are only half-formed since they will only bloom and reach their full potential through the collective work of all participants. The best is still to come…

Carla A., Mary, Erika, Gladys, Cris, Claudia, Nina, Ana María, Vance, Dennis, let’s go for it!! Happy new EVO everyone!

The CALL Interest Section of the international TESOL professional association has announced the 2008 EVO sessions (January 14 – February 24). Every year, EFL/ESL teachers from all over the world take part in online seminars and workshops to explore and discuss topics related to the integration of technology in English Language Teaching.

This year I have the pleasure of being part of the moderating team for one of the sessions, Blogging for Educators , together with an amazing group of colleagues I met during EVO 2006 and 2007. Although most of us have never met f2f, we are willing to collaborate and share all we have learned about edublogging in the EFL classroom.

EVO sessions are a unique opportunity to exchange ideas and build long-lasting relationships with colleagues worldwide. You do not need to be a TESOL member to participate. The sessions are free and open. Check out this site to find out information about the 12 different sessions available: http://evo08sessionscfp.pbwiki.com/

I look forward to meeting you all there!

After RBD, I’ve had the pleasure of engaging in meaningful and unexpected conversations with some unique local bloggers (new friends?) . I guess I’ve just become aware of the fact that I’m an English-speaking blogger in Spanish-speaking city, but that does not seem to be a problem when it comes to sharing concepts and ideas in the blogosphere. Since this is an officially bilingual blog (like me), I’ll share this brand-new video about RBD with all of you. Check sec -1.15 and -0.35. Guess who’s there!

PS. Mate and blogs? I’m in!  More photos-ON24

Images and sounds from Rosario BlogDay. Enjoy!

Meet Rosario’s blogosphere

I’m taking part in the first Rosario BlogDay, a conference in which professionals from different areas are discussing the latest trends in Communication Technologies. The second part on ICT in Education is about to start. More soon…

Later…

Here I am after a blogorific day, dazzled by the variety of stories, experiences and compelling concepts we shared at the first official Blog Day in Rosario.

The day started with a fantastic presentation by Pablo Mancini in which he talked about emerging social networks and their key role in the distribution of knowledge. He stressed the fact that the focus has shifted from publishing information to designing contexts that help us learn.

Other interesting presentations included those of Guillermo Lutzky on School 2.0, Marta Repupilli on Prevenblogs and Marcelo de la Torre, member of Dialógica, who discussed the challenge of integrating social technologies into our traditional institutions, which are so resistant to change. Federico Picone, Pablo Bullrich and Leonardo Penotti, one of the founders of Argentonia, introduced us to the remarkable facts and possibilites of Second Life. (See Rosario Blog Day in Argentonia)

Some tools that were mentioned: Feevy, USTream.tv, JumpCut

Projects that are being carried out with Twitter: Rayuela Project, 20Palabras

As a committed edublogger who takes part in some of the largest online communities in ELT, I had already heard about most of the tools and trends that were mentioned. However, what really inspired me was the exchange of ideas with intellectuals who are ready to analyze the Web 2.0 in its due complexity and who are not afraid to pose provocative questions. The THEORY behind it is what I always crave for, going beyond the bells and whistles and getting deeper into the web of meanings that is shaping our society. What it all means…

Experimenting with the imac at the Mac Store.