I'm supposed to be reviewing another education-focused blog for my assignment. My first reaction was less than keen, as in my research so far I've stumbled across several blogs via web searches that have served a specific need I've been hunting for, but I've never hung around long enough to delve into other posts and form a reasonable opinion on them. Was I going to need to speed read a bunch of blogs I may not have liked, just to be able to briefly write about them here?
As it happens, I was thinking too narrowly. My fairly blinkered opinion on what constitutes a blog is still quite old-school: independent thought trains from the common man, given a voice on the world stage by the democratisation of technology. In reality, the modern interpretation on what counts as blogging has become fairly loose and also seems to be becoming more prevalent from those that would prefer to be called true journalists.
I think there's a fine line personally, one that gets crossed and trampled and redrawn seemingly on the whims of those who want to be seen on one side or the other. Still, from the point of view of making a review it has handily given me a 'blog' that I have spent a reasonable amount of time looking at, the Guardian website's Teacher Network.
This blog, in my view more accurately called a collection of associated articles, is the highest ranked UK-based blog according to teach.com, and is of course a part of one of the country's most prominent left-leaning broadsheet newspapers. The Guardian sits in an unusual spot for a British newspaper, in that it is financed by a trust fund, with the intention of insulating its independence and journalistic integrity from commercial interests. Although the paper is not without criticism it is nevertheless highly regarded, even by its competitors.
The Teacher Network has become a regular location for me as I've researched various pedagogy-related topics, not necessarily as an intentional port-of-call, but simply by having enough content that I seem to end up there at some point or another. Its topics are wide ranging, from the use (or lack of) technology in the classroom to the nature of teaching. My most frequent encounters come from its commentary on the state of the education system and (invariably) how the government just can't seem to do anything right. It does seem like it has an agenda, but then it happens to be an agenda I mostly agree with, so I'm not the one complaining about it.
Is it really a blog if the articles are published by one of the world's most respected newspapers? It's certainly a blurry line, blurred even further by the Guardian's blending of TN articles and standard editorial. Still, it's a great resource and one I recommend for anyone wanting to keep up with developments and opinions in the education sector.
As it happens, I was thinking too narrowly. My fairly blinkered opinion on what constitutes a blog is still quite old-school: independent thought trains from the common man, given a voice on the world stage by the democratisation of technology. In reality, the modern interpretation on what counts as blogging has become fairly loose and also seems to be becoming more prevalent from those that would prefer to be called true journalists.
I think there's a fine line personally, one that gets crossed and trampled and redrawn seemingly on the whims of those who want to be seen on one side or the other. Still, from the point of view of making a review it has handily given me a 'blog' that I have spent a reasonable amount of time looking at, the Guardian website's Teacher Network.
This blog, in my view more accurately called a collection of associated articles, is the highest ranked UK-based blog according to teach.com, and is of course a part of one of the country's most prominent left-leaning broadsheet newspapers. The Guardian sits in an unusual spot for a British newspaper, in that it is financed by a trust fund, with the intention of insulating its independence and journalistic integrity from commercial interests. Although the paper is not without criticism it is nevertheless highly regarded, even by its competitors.
The Teacher Network has become a regular location for me as I've researched various pedagogy-related topics, not necessarily as an intentional port-of-call, but simply by having enough content that I seem to end up there at some point or another. Its topics are wide ranging, from the use (or lack of) technology in the classroom to the nature of teaching. My most frequent encounters come from its commentary on the state of the education system and (invariably) how the government just can't seem to do anything right. It does seem like it has an agenda, but then it happens to be an agenda I mostly agree with, so I'm not the one complaining about it.
Is it really a blog if the articles are published by one of the world's most respected newspapers? It's certainly a blurry line, blurred even further by the Guardian's blending of TN articles and standard editorial. Still, it's a great resource and one I recommend for anyone wanting to keep up with developments and opinions in the education sector.
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