Shimabukuro, James N.

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Innovate: Journal of Online EducationVolume 5Issue 2 December 2008/January 2009 Article 51-1-2009Innovate-Blog: A Step Into Blog 2.0James N. ShimabukuroFollow this and additional works at: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/innovatePart of the Education CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education at NSUWorks. It has been accepted forinclusion in Innovate: Journal of Online Education by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contactnsuworks@nova.edu.Recommended APA CitationShimabukuro, James N. (2009) "Innovate-Blog: A Step Into Blog 2.0," Innovate: Journal of Online Education: Vol. 5: Iss. 2, Article 5.Available at: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/innovate/vol5/iss2/5Innovate-Blog: A Step Into Blog 2.0All exhibits, tables and figures that have remained available have been included as additional content withtheir respective articles to be downloaded separately. Click here to return to the article page on NSUWorksand view the supplemental files.Unfortunately, not all the supplemental files have survived until 2015 and some will be missing from thearticle pages. If you are an author in Innovate and would like to have your supplemental content included,please email the NSUWorks repository administrator at nsuworks@nova.edu.This article is available in Innovate: Journal of Online Education: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/innovate/vol5/iss2/5Innovate-Blog: A Step Into Blog 2.0by James ShimabukuroWith the advent of free blog publishing platforms and tools such as WordPress and Blogger in 2003, theindividual finally had a simple yet sophisticated means to publish directly to the Web. After a few yearshowever, some (e.g., BBC News 2006, Gross 2006) claimed that blogs would reach their peak in 2007 andbegin leveling off. Preliminary statistics seem to support this opinion (Rubel 2006).However, I'm inclined to agree with Steve Broback (2007), whose argument is summed up in his article title:"The 'Blogs Have Peaked' Notion Confuses Content with Architecture." He notes, "WordPress, MovableType, Typepad, Drupal, etc. are . . . simply a better way to build a WEB SITE. Blogs are an essential Webarchitecture, not just a limited platform for diaries" (¶2). The distinction that Broback makes is critical: Themedium defines the message (McLuhan 1964, 7) and not the other way around. And in this case, the mediumis a free or inexpensive ticket for professional and commercial organizations to publish something that issimilar to yet different from traditional Web pages. It is in the differences that blogs have a potential that isonly now being tapped.In the last few years, major dailies such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the ChicagoTribune have begun to include blogs in their online news sites. In this application, blogs are a means to addcommentary and individual narratives to straight news, bringing depth, breadth, spin, and controversy tootherwise vanilla reporting. As they become increasingly sophisticated in their incorporation of blogs,publishers are beginning to group them into news categories. For example, the New York Times includesblogs under its regular section headings, classifying them under politics, world, technology, media, business,economy, or opinion, among others. Organizations such as Britannica are taking blogs to a whole new level with initiatives like Britannica Blog thatinclude attractive graphics and videos. However, the most intriguing development is what Britannica refers toas a "blog forum." Instead of simply gathering individual blogs into categories or listing a patchwork of thelatest posts in blog forums such as Are Newspapers Doomed? (Do We Care?), Britannica gathers influentialwriters contributing as "participants" and "respondents," who engage in discussions around a central theme,inviting the public to join in via comments. The result is a platform that extends Britannica's publishing reachinto the realm of Web 2.0 and fosters dynamic exchanges among a wide range of experts and the public.When we focus on the medium—blogs as Web publishing platforms and tools—rather than on the content,we begin to see the possibilities for applications that go far beyond personal journals. Whereasfirst-generation blog content is overwhelmingly defined by individuals sharing observations and experiences,pursuing personal objectives via independent platforms, second-generation content is defined byorganizational purposes and teams of writers. Web 2.0 is giving birth to a new generation of blogs that isbeing published by organizations rather than individuals. In this Blog 2.0, the strength of the medium, itsarchitecture, is being used to radically expand the Web as we know it, allowing for a seamless mix ofcorporate and individual communication.Introducing I-BlogIn this inaugural column, I take great pleasure in announcing Innovate's new Blog 2.0, Innovate-Blog, orI-Blog, which is modeled after Britannica's blog forum and has a similar goal: to extend Innovate's publishingreach and foster dynamic exchanges around issues in educational technology. However, I-Blog differs fromhttp://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=695 1Shimabukuro: Innovate-Blog: A Step Into Blog 2.0Published by NSUWorks, 2009Britannica's model in one important aspect: Instead of concentrating on themes, it focuses on a select groupof writers covering current topics and issues in their areas of interest. The wide range of articles will reflectthe interests of our I-Bloggers and the response of our audience via hits and comments.I-Blog is one of two Web 2.0 features offered by Innovate; the other is Innovate-Ideagora. Each complementsthe other via two of the most dynamic Web 2.0 media: blogs and forums. Innovate-Ideagora engagessubscribers and the public at large via open discussion threads and personal blogs initiated and maintainedby individual members. I-Blog offers longer, more structured posts, closer to articles than to off-the-cuffconversations, and only staff and guest authors are allowed to submit articles although anyone may post acomment in response. Additionally, the "blog forum" approach assures readers of a steady stream ofthoughtful and thought-provoking articles.We hope you'll log in to I-Blog regularly to read the latest articles and to participate by posting comments. Wealso invite you to join our team of writers. If you're interested in blogging about the latest trends, issues, anddevelopments in educational technology, review the I-Blog Submissions page and e-mail me atjamess@hawaii.edu.Happenings in I-BlogOur staff and guest authors this month are John Adsit, Claude Almansi, Steve Eskow, Gary Greenberg,Carrie Heeter, Harry Keller, John Thompson, and Lynn Zimmerman. Together, we form a team that will workclosely with Innovate, Innovate-Ideagora, and Innovate-Live to bring you the latest developments and mostprovocative discussions on educational technology. We look forward to your joining us in making I-Blog adynamic venue for the exchange of ideas.Our initial articles cover a wide range of topics, but a common theme running through most is change—whyit's not happening, how to facilitate it, and what needs to be done.Addressing the issue of cost as a formidable obstacle to change, Steve Eskow argues in "The 375-BillionDollar Question. And the New Agora" that college costs continue to skyrocket because decision makerssteadfastly pour resources into the old technology of buildings and classrooms, ignoring new technology thatcould significantly lower costs. "The new Agora of the Internet," he says, "is classroom, lecture hall, library . . .students can take the Agora with them and listen to lectures and read books and engage in dialog withteachers and students who are scattered in time and space."Lynn Zimmerman in "Resistance to Technology: Conscious or Unconscious?" suggests that one way toaddress "the problem of faculty resistance to using IT tools in active learning instructional strategies"(Morrison 2008) is "to look more closely at what teachers are really doing as opposed to what they think theyare doing in the classroom/educational space." She says, "It is possible that not only are teachers activelyresisting learning about technology and technological advances, but some are perhaps unconsciouslyresisting it."John Adsit views the quality of online offerings as an obstacle to change. In "Technology Must Be Based onQuality Instructional Practice," Adsit claims that teachers who are armed with best practices and appropriatetechnology are at the heart of the change process. The greatest obstacle, however, is pedagogy based ontradition rather than on hard data and technology that fails to address critical issues. He says, "Much of theeducational technology I see is imitating the bad instruction that produces poor student achievement.Technology developers must seek out what really works and focus their attention accordingly." In a secondarticle, "Old School Thinking Blocks Quality Online Science Classes," Adsit asserts that "well-designed onlineclasses have lab programs that are far superior to what students encounter in 'typical' lab programs." Theproblem, though, is policies that restrict development of effective programs, such as the University ofCalifornia Office of the President (UCOP) rule that high school courses that use virtual labs and simulationshttp://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=695 2Innovate: Journal of Online Education, Vol. 5, Iss. 2 [2009], Art. 5http://nsuworks.nova.edu/innovate/vol5/iss2/5are unacceptable to fulfill requirements for admission. In response to Adsit, Harry Keller argues in "Simulated Labs Are Anathema to Most Scientists" that the bestcourse of action in the UCOP case is to abandon the idea of simulations. "We must," he says, "present themwith real innovations that don't depend on simulated activities but use real data from the real world with highlyinteractive collection of personal data by students." In his follow-up article, "Making a Case for Online ScienceLabs," Keller suggests a step-by-step approach to working with academic governing bodies such as UCOPand the New York State Board of Regents. The key, he feels, is to negotiate the "exact extent" of hands-onlabs in high school curricula. To this end, he says, "I'd be happy to hear of other approaches that are notsimulations and to work with anyone who'd like to see a change in the UCOP and Regents standards for labexperience."At the 2008 University of Wisconsin Distance Teaching and Learning Conference, Gary Greenbergconducted a panel on the question of innovation in the creation of online courses: Is it at a standstill? In "Quality in Distance Education: Stakeholders' Perspectives Part One," he summarizes the results by quotingcomments from participants Robert Bulik, Kay Shattuck, Katie McDonald, and Joeann Humbert. All seem toagree that innovation has stalled, and the consensus is that the dialogue "between faculty members andinstructional designers [is essential] in the design of a quality distance education course."To improve the quality of online offerings, Claude Almansi explains in "Making Web Multimedia AccessibleNeedn't Be Boring" how videos can be easily retrofitted with "captions or auditory descriptions of the visualtrack" via online services such as DotSub and WebMultimediale and options such as SynchronizedMultimedia Interaction Language (SMIL). She says, "While these features are primarily meant to facilitateaccess to deaf and blind people, they can also be used creatively to enhance all users' experience of avideo."Finally, in "Green Computing: How to Reduce Our Personal Carbon Footprints," John Thompson sets theproblem of change in the global arena, arguing that the move to online classes helps to protect ourenvironment. He challenges each of us as "individual computer users" to support the "green energy" initiative.What can we do to reduce our "personal carbon footprints"? He focuses on three areas: power management,e-mail, and online learning. He says, for example, "If you have a choice between taking a college course in atraditional campus setting or accessing your course from work or home, consider the online choice. Nocampus presence equates to less energy use." He leaves the reader with a question: "Why are computerusers not seeking to achieve the TBL—triple bottom line (economic, environmental and social)—and savemoney, help protect the environment, and do what's right for society?"ReferencesBBC News. 2006. Blogging 'set to peak next year.' BBC News, December 14.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6178611.stm (accessed November 26, 2008). Archived athttp://www.webcitation.org/5cbTnVFPy.Broback, S. 2007. The "blogs have peaked" notion confuses content with architecture. [Weblog entry, March1.] Blog Business Summit. http://blogbusinesssummit.com/2007/03/the_blogs_have_.htm (accessedNovember 26, 2008). Archived at http://www.webcitation.org/5cbUa1y4q.Gross, D. 2006. Twilight of the blogs: Are they over as a business? Slate, February 16.http://www.slate.com/id/2136437/nav/tap1/ (accessed November 26, 2008). Archived athttp://www.webcitation.org/5cbUm5B0W. McLuhan, M. 1964. Understanding media: The extensions of man. New York: McGraw-Hill.http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=695 3Shimabukuro: Innovate-Blog: A Step Into Blog 2.0Published by NSUWorks, 2009Morrison, J. L. 2008. Addressing the problem of faculty resistance to using IT tools in active learninginstructional strategies. [Discussion forum posting, July 21.] Innovate-Ideagora.http://innovate-ideagora.ning.com/forum/topics/addressing-the-problem-of (accessed November 26, 2008). Rubel, S. 2006. By some measures, blogging may be peaking. [Weblog entry, December 11.] MicroPersuasion. http://www.micropersuasion.com/2006/12/by_some_measure.html (accessed November 26,2008). Archived at http://www.webcitation.org/5cbVrRovf.COPYRIGHT AND CITATION INFORMATION FOR THIS ARTICLEThis article may be reproduced and distributed for educational purposes if the following attribution is included in the document:  Note: This article was originally published in Innovate (http://www.innovateonline.info/) as: Shimabukuro, J. 2008. Innovate-Blog: Astep into Blog 2.0. Innovate 5 (2). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=695 (accessed November 30, 2008). Thearticle is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, The Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova SoutheasternUniversity.To find related articles, view the webcast, or comment publically on this article in the discussion forums, please goto http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=695  and select the appropriate function from thesidebar. http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=695 4Innovate: Journal of Online Education, Vol. 5, Iss. 2 [2009], Art. 5http://nsuworks.nova.edu/innovate/vol5/iss2/5

Innovate-Blog: A Step Into Blog 2.0

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Innovate-Blog: A Step Into Blog 2.0

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