Top 3 Blogs to Read?

Just the other day, a colleague said to me, "Where do I even start when I'm asked to begin reading blogs?" and I thought it was a great question.

So, that's my ? to anyone out there. What are your top 3 blogs you'd recommend others to read about web 2.0, collaboration or anything technology-related? I'd like to create a list for teachers at my school of the most commonly recommended. Thanks for your help. :)

Mine are coolcatteacher.blogspot.com, utechtips.com and thefischbowl.blogspot.com

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Permalink Reply by Ann on February 18, 2008 at 7:42am

I'm looking forward to following this thread, so I saved it in my RSS reader. My top three:

Langwitches

always learning
dy/dan

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on February 19, 2008 at 6:39pm

I read Dan Meyer, too. He irritates the heck out of me but it's refreshing that he actually looks at the best way to teach not just the whiz-bang of the tools. He also makes me think about the design of teaching.

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Permalink Reply by Ann on February 19, 2008 at 6:41pm

That's way I like him. His fascination and obsession with design. It pushes me to think about it more.

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Permalink Reply by Tonya Herron on February 19, 2008 at 10:59am

From a real tech geek, check out

From Toys to Tools

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Permalink Reply by Jason de Nys on February 19, 2008 at 11:42pm

I really like Janes e-Learning Pick of the day. She is also polling learning professionals on their top ten tech tools so go and contribute.

And not directly educationally oriented but Techcrunch for getting in on new web 2.0 apps

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Permalink Reply by Ben Bleckley on February 20, 2008 at 11:10am

dy/dan
thefischbowl
blogessor
Beyond School

I know that's four, but two were already mentioned . . . and I'm justifying my breaking of the rules that way.

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Permalink Reply by eyeingtenure on February 20, 2008 at 7:29pm

dy/dan is good, but he has enough love. Besides, he's how I found this discussion.

3σ → Left -- I just like it. Deal with it.
Mr. Pullen -- anecdotal and intelligent
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub -- usually, he links to good history resources.

Of course, it wouldn't be a discussion of blogs without shameless self-promotion.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Davis on February 20, 2008 at 8:58pm

You might try TeachEng.Us

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Permalink Reply by Tom Woodward on February 20, 2008 at 10:29pm

I'm going to be a downer.
Personally, to get them started I'd get them into blogs which match their interests. Get them to buy into the idea. Then broaden them out later.

If I was trying to get someone interested in blogs I'd avoid most any edtech blogs if my focus was "web 2.0, collaboration or anything technology-related."

If my focus was technology/web 2.0 I'd probably go with http://radar.oreilly.com/ or maybe engadget (a little too hyper for my taste). Use the pros for things that aren't directly teaching related. They're generally paid for a reason- even in the nirvana of the Internets.

For teachers who don't seek out blogs on their own I'd tend towards writers that focus on their subjects/grades if possible. I think you'll lose people on sites similar to Warlick's where it's big fluffy ideas or self reporting (I'm in CO at a blah blah) a lot of the time rather than a focus on classroom use with solid examples. General blogs tend to be nice for people with interest and ideas about how to do things already but I don't think they fly nearly as well with the newer folk.

I'd also avoid the hyper-posters who make multiple posts a day. It's too easy for beginners to get behind, get overwhelmed and decide to give up. That'll probably rule out some of those above.

It's much harder that way, creating "individual blogging plans" but I'd bet it's more effective.

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Permalink Reply by Tara Ethridge on February 21, 2008 at 4:37am

Tom,

Not a downer at all. I agree that for many, the idea of reading someone else's blogs online is still very foreign. I started with adoption blogs while in the process of adopting myself, and that got me hooked and made it easier to make the transition to ed. tech and library blogs.

My own niche is with teachers who are just starting out, and I find that the idea blogs are great for that. The big picture blogs can easily be above people's head, and my conversations with newbies have let me know that they are looking for concrete ways to integrate technology and to connect with other teachers. In a nutshell, stop telling me about the philosophy and tell me exactly where to start. And even more importantly, give me the steps on how to do it at my level.

I started my own TLC blog for Tech/Library/Classroom ideas especially for that reason, and I still love coming across blogs that have great ideas to implement.

Let's consider "individual blogging plans" the differentiation for teachers of the 21st century. :)

Appreciate your thoughts...

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Permalink Reply by John Larkin on February 21, 2008 at 3:02am

There are three blogs that rank high on my list. All three are blogged by Singaporean educators. Siva, has been blogging for ages.

Siva ~ lecturer, teacher, guide, environmentalist, bike-rider, tech experimenter, legend.
http://staff.science.nus.edu.sg/%7Esivasothi/blog/index.php
http://otterman.wordpress.com/

Marcus ~ botanist, blogger, brilliant photographer, macro-photography that is world's best.
http://budak.blogs.com/about.html

Kevin Lim ~ Social networking researcher based in the USA. He's a Mac cult leader who works at the Educational Technology Center and has gone mad taking the PhD program at the School of Informatics, University at Buffalo. Lifestreamer.
http://theory.isthereason.com/

Well worth a look. Inspirational.

Cheers

John