In Portuguese we use to say that “conversations are like cherries”. I am not really sure if it convey the right idea, but the truth is that when you get a basket full of cherries and you try to get one, three or four get attached to the one you chose to pick.

Conversations are like that, I guess. We start a topic and all of a sudden, we are addressing other issues which arise from that some topic, and the conversation flows in that way

In the last few weeks I have been engaging with two different groups online, both as a co-moderator and also as a participant. I always think I learn more than I am able to help others in these online interactions. [ instead of ‘help’ I was going to use ‘teach’. I felt the need to distinguish my two activities in these communities as moderator and as a participant. However, I feel teach and learn could be interpreted as antagonistic concepts in this context and that isn’t the case. Here the two actions complement each other as meaningful components of the exploration and learning activities... another cherry...! ;-) ]

But as I was saying…from my latest interactions in the two group two different people, very dear to me, asked me to write something about what I had just shared with the groups. They are not rocket science thoughts; they aren’t even news for you, but today somehow I feel like using their request as a pretext to update my blog!

The topics I will explore here are related with the “21st century shift” [another fashionable expression!?], and the fact people are still avoiding to be touched by the obvious, that is, the change is inevitable! If that sift requires technology…that is also another BIG issue…

The thing is: we do need to improve the educational situation and it is most likely technology will continue to play an important role in it. It is already part of our daily routine, whether we like it or not. And I must say that we do like it. Who does not own a mobile phone these days, please raise their hand! And who doesn’t still buy things on amazon and other companies online…trust me one of these days you will start to…and it might be  earlier than you  think.

The second topic I will address is related to the power of blogging inside, and especially, outside the classroom. Getting students to engage is not easy, but what amazes me more is when we do not get educators – those who carry the learning flag [ do they, really?] - to engage with those approaches. They are the leaders. If they don’t believe in it, their students won’t either.

One of these days, someone shared this video with us. It is an interesting video.

While I was watching it, I was wondering why it is still so difficult for educators to make the transition from the industrial age to the digital day. The way we learn today is not the same way our grand parents and great-grand parents did. And this not only applies to use of technologies, but also to learning spaces, curricula, etc.

I use to say that my great-grandfather used to ride a donkey to work, my grandfather – at a certain point of his life, bought himself a motorbike, and my father, after finding some stability in his life, gave up the motorbike and learned how to drive a car. These days I am flying more and more to reach the places where I need to be. Most younger generation already teleport them to several places to interact, play and learn with others, This not only reflects the evolution we have gone through; it also shows the needs of today’s society. So how can we accept it in education as well. Or better: why haven’t we been able to yet?

My mum learned in a school where there were few books or no notebooks, She wrote things down on a slate, and had to develop memorization skills and techniques. My brother and myself always got new note books and notepads at the beginning of the each school year, which  we used to record information “forever” – so we thought! – and the kids these days are entering an age when they are given a laptop on their first year of school – well… not quite so… But the thing is….why stop the evolution then? Progress should be embraced and not banned from school. Educational institutions should be the first ones to welcome it. Isn’t the main goal of education to prepare individuals for the future?

After a couple of days later, we had the pleasure of having two very special guest speakers: Konrad Glogoswksy and Paul Allison. These are teachers who blog. WOW! :D These are teachers who encourage their students to blog. GREAT! :D These are teachers who lead by example.WONDERFUL! :D They not only preach; they do it themselves too.

So much is said about autonomous learning, how important reflective and critical thinking is; how little kids read and write these days. Are we giving them a reason to do so, when we spit-out information during 1 hour slots, while students attempt to jot down word by word of what they are passively hearing? Are we enabling them to think, to come up with their own ideas, or are we asking them, in an implicit way, to duplicate lecture’s notes in their exams, for immediately afterwards be able to forget them?

Not everyone is like that, but… I see more people preaching than actually doing something.

I started blogging when started my Masters. It was in 2004. A quite late start, I would say. And I did it because it was part of one of the subjects. Although not mandatory, it was advisable. I thought I’d better give it a try, since it was a Learning Technologies Masters. You would think others would see the point too. But most of my colleagues just didn’t engage with it. I still haven’t realized if they were skeptic about it, if they lacked the time, or if it was a fear (2.0) factor. In a way I was sorry they didn’t engage. Most graduated without having a deeper and personal vision of what blogging and the web 2.0 are all about.

Sometimes it is hard to get people blogging out of their free willing and that is why we come up with these all planned-out tasks, so students don’t stand a chance to ignore it. However, as everything in life, blogging does work better when taken as a free-willing activity. But it is also true that it is not easy at first. It takes time to get into blogging-mode! It takes time to find your own voice. As it also takes time, and courage, to have it surface and develop into blog posts and later on also into commented thoughts. The more you blog, the more you get into the spirit of it and the more you appreciate blogging and commenting on others’ blogs. But it is not easy! Who said it was, anyway? It is not easy, but it isn’t difficult either. It is just hard to take up a challenge, especially when it is related to something as personal as writing one’s mind in the open. Challenges aren’t easy, but they are great ways of exploring our capacities and of making us exceed what we thought to be our limits.

To me personally, challenges make feel alive. Blogging allows me to project my deeper feelings, analyze my-”self”, and bring out the best of me. I am glad I found my voice. it is not a perfect voice, but it is my attempt to improve it.

I know blogging doesn’t match everyone’s personality, and that is OK. But I do believe many people can be outstanding bloggers if they choose to give it a try. There isn’t a recipe to motivate kids to engage with this approach…but one thing is for sure. Teachers who blog will have a better chance to convey that message than those who don’t, simply because the passion is there. And I dare say: the teachers that remain in my heart are those who were able to convey the message with great enthusiasm and passion. All the others belong to my past as do all the lessons I have already forgotten.

I think what I am also saying, is that we need more people who are keen on what they do…and this doesn’t apply only to teachers, but to everyone in general.

I will stop here now…hopefully the discussion will continue in comment format! :-)