I read lots of blogs, I read blogs on Web 2.0, I read mommy blogs, I read triathalon blogs , and I read blogs about my favorite TV shows. My Twitter and Plurk networks include people outside the world of education. The more diverse your learning network, the more likely you are to stumble upon something that everyone else hasn't seen already. I recently blogged about 10 ways to Grow Your Learning Network. Today I found this excellent post by Chris Brogan on how to Reach Outside Your Fishbowl to Build Community. Chris himself is outside of my fishbowl and I have learned a lot from him. I particularly like number 2 and 3 on his list:1. Go to Delicious and search for topics that are just outside your blog’s main subject, or that are at perhaps tangential. Do the same thing as step 1.How diverse is your network? Do you follow only educators? How do you find people to learn from? Please let us know.
2. Write posts about an industry vertical using your blog’s perspective instead of just writing about your main focus. If you’re writing a running blog, write a post like “Top 5 Runner-Friendly Companies in Seattle” or if you’re a food videoblogger, shoot an episode called “Election Day Dinners.” In these cases, make sure you’re using tagging and that you’ve claimed your blog in a search site like Technorati.
Image Source: Namaqualand Wild Flower Carpet. http://www.flickr.com/photos/martin_heigan/2137729737/
5 comments:
I am a school librarian, but I learn a lot from the people in the public and college/university library worlds. Although those librarians are also educators, we all come at librarianship from different perspectives, and I value learning from them.
Hey Liz,
I first started blogging with Completerunning.com--oh, about 4 or 5 years ago. I found a real community there. Although I don't have time to keep up my running blog (Finally Running), I still read and keep up with my RBF (running blog family) !! Every so often, my two worlds intersect, too:)
Liz,
My network is pretty diverse on and off line. I subscribe to many different blogs and my blog list is randomized so the same ones aren’t displayed in a particular order. I follow parents, students, educators, educational leaders, and ed techies. As a student, a parent, military vet, a lifelong learner, and someone who literally lives, works, and volunteers in a city that is so digitally disconnected that I try to find multiple avenues of information resources to introduce to people stuck in personal unconnected silos. I try to learn something from someone every day, on and off line. The diversity in blogs provides those opportunities.
A couple of years ago when I started blogging, I did it as “Part of the solution” to help parents, students, teachers, and the community of one failing high school connect…then I discovered that blogs were among the many things blocked from the students in a failing school system. So I transitioned to the Participative Parent as adult returning to school in the online world, taking in a parent, and working with my daughter and her friends (the gadget girls) as we learn about living with technology, scholarship apps, writing resumes, learning new tech gadgets, and connecting with the community…so I try to keep my blog posts diverse as we share knowledge, experiences, and seek comments and email from others. http://participativeparent.blogspot.com/
I appreciate your post about a diverse learning network. I am an educator but decided to broaden the scope of my blog to include a global philosophy of ten points which can be read on the sidebar. That philosophy has taken me to blog about the environment, health, the arts, nutrition, fair trade etc. It has been energizing and enriching!
Thanks for this post.
I agree totally about keeping your network diverse. I am maybe not as divergent in my thinking as you, but I learn from people like you about new links to tap into.
Twemes has helped me find new connections that are of interest but not directly related to education. I follow enterprise2.0 posts and some not for profit writers too.
Having other languages also helps me stay tuned to developments across a wider global horizon.
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