Usefulness of Blogs

My first impression of creating a blog is that it is fun and entirely simple. It is an extremely useful way to stay informed and keep others informed about anything you wish, whether it be educational resources, political happenings, or simply personal information. Our society is structured in such a way due to technology that regular people can make huge impacts on the world around us.

Currently, there is the Kobe Bryant drama of whether or not he will be traded. Meaningful or not, the issue has created waves of headlines in the sport world. Now, a group of friends known as the "Kobe Video Guys" have a short video filmed on a digital camera of Kobe himself dissing the Laker organization outside of a California deli. They are attempting to sell the clip to the highest bidder. The potential release of this video filmed by a couple of guys with a digital camera has created a huge stir all across the sports world!

Or, what about George Allen (R), was running for the re-election in the Virginia Senate in 2006? His democratic opponent, Jim Webb, had a young man, S.R. Sidarth, film every one of Allen's speeches in hopes of a slip-up by the republican. Sure enough, Allen called the young man a "macaca" during a speech, an ethnic slur for an Indian American, Sidarth's descent. The clip was a YouTube phenomenon and Allen subsequently lost the election, which proved to be a crucial blow at the time to a possible Republican Senate (as we know, the Democrats won a Senate majority). Once again, we see normal people using technological resources to make large impacts in the world.

Blogs operate in much the same fashion, where regular people can get scoops before any of the major news outlets! These types of examples aside, blogs can be quite useful in the education world, as well. Sharing resources, ideas, facts and opinions becomes a snap. Imagine an entire group of colleagues having blogs to collaborate - how easy it is to be on the same page with cross-curriculum teaching, or simply to point people in the right direction for any type of information. When these blogs become more well-known and shared (such as on the CTER website), then they can continue to build steam and in a way "force" the person to keep updating the blog by way of high demand.

Personally, blogs can be a tremendous tool to keep in-touch with others. Journals are a great insight into a person's life, and I am convinced the person writing the blog learns as much as the person reading it. Thinking about issues or the events of your day truly open up your mind to thoughts you did not know you have. They also can improve you reading and writing skills - hence, blogs may be a useful took in a classroom for students to journal and connect with other students in a format I'm sure they would deem to be pretty cool.

I would like to keep my blog updated for the above reasons, professionally and personally. Hopefully, I can turn a few of my colleagues and friends onto blogs as well!