by Scott McLeod | Feb 14, 2010 | Blogging, Gaming, Law, Policy, and Ethics, Online Learning |
As part of our never-ending quest to tap into the potential of social media to enhance the practice of school administrators (and the university programs that prepare them), I am pleased to announce that CASTLE has added three new blogs to its portfolio. Two of the three blogs have been in existence for a long while; the third is a new blog by a faculty colleague.
Are we trying to become the Weblogs, Inc. or Gawker Media (or Education Week) of the edublogosphere? No, not exactly. But we ARE trying to assemble a portfolio of blogs that meet the various technology and/or leadership needs of practicing school leaders.
Our blogs
Here are the blogs that we’ve initiated to date (and their topical focus):
- Dangerously Irrelevant (technology, leadership, and school reform)
- LeaderTalk (school leadership; group blog)
- Edjurist (school law; group blog)
- 1to1 Schools (1:1 laptop programs; group blog)
To this mix, we’ve now added the following (which fill in a few significant topical areas in which we were lacking)…
5. Virtual High School Meanderings (online schooling)
Dr. Michael Barbour, an Assistant Professor at Wayne State University, has been blogging about online schooling for years. As you’ll see if you read it for a while, if it has to do with online schooling, you’ll likely find it at Michael’s blog. Michael posts A LOT; the comprehensiveness of information he provides is astounding. Michael also maintains a virtual schooling wiki or you can follow him on Twitter. Michael’s blog soon will be renamed Virtual School Meanderings to reflect the growth of online schooling in earlier grades.
Here are some representative posts to get you started:
6. Educational Games Research (educational gaming)
John Rice is an educator, author, and speaker, as well as a doctoral student at the University of North Texas, who has been blogging about educational gaming since February 2007. I am a learner in the area of educational gaming so I always gain a lot from John’s posts. John does a nice job of looking at K-12 and higher education and also includes a post now and then on corporate simulations, serious gaming, and the like.
Here are some representative posts to get you started:
7. School Finance 101 (school finance / policy)
I have known Dr. Bruce Baker, school finance professor extraordinaire, for many years. Bruce is a fantastic scholar. His interests extend far beyond school finance to include a variety of policy and leadership issues. Those of us in educational leadership academic circles know that Bruce is not afraid to take on the establishment and confront uncomfortable political and educational truths. I was delighted to see that Bruce started blogging more extensively last fall and was even more pleased when he agreed to join us. Bruce writes about deep, significant school funding and/or policy issues, but does so in a way that’s accessible to those of us who aren’t experts in this area. You also can find Bruce on Twitter.
Here are some representative posts to get you started:
I encourage you to subscribe to all three of these blogs for a while. There is some really important information and thinking coming out of all three of these channels. I can guarantee that you’ll learn a lot and gain some valuable resources for your own work.
Next steps
What lies ahead for the CASTLE blogs? Well, we will be shifting a couple of our existing blogs over to WordPress, so you’ll see some visual changes and added functionality in the next few months. We’re going to add some new authors to our group blogs, particularly LeaderTalk and 1to1 Schools. And we’re in conversations with our sponsor, the University Council for Educational Administration, about initiating a blog that deals with school leadership for social justice. If you’ve got some other suggestions for us, or know of a blog that might be a good addition to our portfolio, let me know!
Happy reading!
by Scott McLeod | Feb 5, 2010 | Blogging |
A baker's dozen of great Scott blogs…
- Dilbert Blog, Scott Adams
- Scott Berkun, Scott Berkun (wrote a fantastic book, BTW!)
- Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider, Scott Kelby
- HELLO, my name is Blog!, Scott Ginsberg
- The Social Media Marketing Blog, Scott Monty
- Laughing Squid, Scott Beale
- World in Motion, Scott Erb
- ISO50, Scott Hansen
- Higher Edison, Scott Schwister
- Smeech.net, Scott Meech
- Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?, Scott Elias
- Dangerously Irrelevant, Scott McLeod (yours truly)
- edu.blogs.com, Ewan McIntosh (technically a Scot, not a Scott)
Not a bad read in the bunch!
Update: I can't believe I forgot to include Scott McCloud.com by Scott McCloud. He was born Scott McLeod, just like me. Embarrassing!
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by Scott McLeod | Jan 29, 2010 | Blogging |
According to Feedburner, here are the subscriber numbers for Dangerously Irrelevant for the past 7 days. Either Feedburner’s got a glitch in its monitoring/reporting or people are finally discovering my brilliance (it’s about time!). Anyone else seeing this?
by Scott McLeod | Jan 26, 2010 | Blogging, Higher Education |
Seth Godin says:
If you want to change people, you must create enough leverage to encourage the change to happen.
I’ll be making this argument when it’s time for me to go up for promotion…
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by Scott McLeod | Jan 21, 2010 | Blogging |
I added a Skribit widget to Dangerously Irrelevant yesterday that allows me to take input from blog visitors about what they’d like to see. Here’s what it looks like on the blog (widget is on left-hand side):
Here’s what it looks like on the back end (click on image to see larger version):
Will this be of use to our community? I guess it depends on how much visitors use the widget. I think it has potential but only time will tell!
Given that my primary blog themes are technology, leadership, and school reform, what would you like to see me write about?
by Scott McLeod | Jan 17, 2010 | Blogging, Miscellaneous |
For those who are interested in what I’m reading online, here are is a number of the RSS channels in my Google Reader account (some blogs are in multiple channels):
You too can subscribe to these channels by using the RSS feed at each link. These channels are fluid; I add and remove individual blogs all the time!
by Scott McLeod | Dec 14, 2009 | Blogging, News and Events |
I’m looking for a few folks who might be interested in helping me with my next survey of the edublogosphere. I’d love to have some assistance devising questions, analyzing and presenting the results, publicizing the survey, etc.
I’ve done two of these in the past:
My plan is for the survey to go live in early to mid-January and to have the analysis completed by late January or early February. Complete this short online form if you’d like to be involved. Thanks!
by Scott McLeod | Dec 8, 2009 | Blogging, CASTLE, Interviews, Leadership and Vision, Learning and Teaching, News and Events, Tech Integration |
Some of you have noticed that CASTLE has a new blog: 1to1 Schools. We’re excited about this new venture, which is meant to highlight news, stories, videos, and other resources related to elementary and secondary 1:1 laptop programs.
1to1 Schools is a group blog. For example, check out Nick Sauers’ series on using John Kotter’s 8–stage change process as a model framework for schools that are considering 1:1. Or his post on banning boredom, not laptops. Nick and I also have been on the road with our Flip camcorders, making videos of educators who are involved in laptop programs (see, e.g., our chats with Wynn Draper-Bryant and Marge Beatty).
Pamela Livingston, author of 1-to-1 Learning: Laptop Programs That Work, recently had two posts about an international survey of students in 1:1 programs:
She also wrote recently about how laptops are NOT for listening.
Blair Peterson, another occasional contributor, has noted that we should be prepared for the expected opposition to laptop programs.
The blog is a work in progress - and like many new blogs we’re still working on finding our voice - so if you have suggestions. If you’d like to be a contributor (or know someone else who’d be a good writer for us) please let us know that too.
Happy reading!
by Scott McLeod | Dec 6, 2009 | Blogging, News and Events |
I’ve been nominated for a few Edublog Awards this year, including Best Individual Blog, Lifetime Achievement, and Best Leadership Blog (a nonexistent category!). I’m flattered that some folks think I’m worthy of nomination and am appreciative of their support of my writing.
I should be WAY down the list when it comes to any kind of lifetime achievement award. The category is only in its second year of existence; David Warlick won last year. I can think of a number of different folks that have come before me and are much more deserving. Below is a partial list that is 1) in no particular order, and 2) by no means exclusive of others that I’m forgetting at this moment. All of these folks have influenced my thinking and writing and many were very kind to me when I was getting started.
I only have been blogging for about 3 years now. Maybe in another decade or two - if I’m still at this and the folks above all have been selected - I’ll feel like it might be my turn. Until then, I hope you’ll consider throwing your support behind one of these others (if they get selected for the final ballot).
Nominations close December 8 if you’re interested in recognizing the blogging contributions of others. Voting ends December 16 and the awards are announced December 18. Keep writing and learning, everyone!
by Scott McLeod | Oct 22, 2009 | Blogging, Miscellaneous |
Some of you have noticed that I’ve got a new blog! I’m using Posterous to capture those online items that interest me but for which I don’t have time (or inclination) to blog about on Dangerously Irrelevant. For example, recent items include:
If you’d like to subscribe, please visit Mind Dump!
