Believe it or not, we're living during an amazing moment in history. Sure, there have been inventions like the printing press and the telephone that have revolutionized the way we communicate, but in the last few years, the exchange of ideas has exploded at an alarming rate. New genres are being formed as we speak, and they are already making an impact on how we learn and communicate. What's causing this big explosion? Technology.
Enter the blog. When I was your age, the word "blog" wasn't even invented yet, let alone Facebook, Twitter, and the internet itself. Like those other innovations of the 21st century, the blog empowers us as we express our opinions and communicate with each other. Maybe you're like I was until recently though, and you don't really get how a blog works. Check out this video:
With blogs, we can share ideas and grow our community beyond the walls of our classroom. We can include images and videos to enhance our ideas in ways that words alone cannot. We can connect with others in the world and hopefully make an impact on them. And finally, we'll be able to track and link our own thinking as we do it.
Of course many of you already know this. I was amazed at your responses to the blog survey you completed. Over half of you (24 to be exact) have written for a blog already, so maybe I'm already preaching to the choir.
You're not the only students trying this genre out in hopes of seeing results. Recently, a teacher from ISB told me all about his students' blogging experience. One of his students, Brian Leong, wrote a post about his experience with Operation Smile, a charity organization that provides free surgeries for children with facial deformities.
Along with his post, he created a video to show what he experienced. Well, his video went viral. It even got back to the folks at Operation Smile. They loved it, and not only did they contact Brian to tell him how much it meant to them, they also asked him to be a keynote speaker at their conference.
So you never know where the ideas on your blog may lead you. One thing's for sure, they'll connect you with people and places like never before. So what do you say? How about we give it a try and see where it takes us?
