Originally Posted August 2, 2006

In the launch of Dollar Philanthropy, where I have offically outted myself as a blogger to family, friends, neighbors and acquaintances, I have discovered that there are a number of people who still look upon blogging with skeptical eyes. Many don’t understand the facination and others are convinced that blogging is just an outlet for angry, troubled, and hostile adults or that it is just something for kids.

With the announcement, I also received responses from a number of folks who had not ventured into the blogosphere, but who admitted that they had been curious. A few have been willing to suspend judgement and have agreed to tip their toe into the world of blogs. With that said, I wanted to take a few moments to wax philosophical about blogging.

so……….I think it is important for individuals to refrain from defining blogging by the individuals that do it. Instead, people should look at it as a technology and a tool that can be used to communicate information that can be accessed 24/7.

You Don’t Have to be Like Ann Coulter

Blogging can be used for other things besides boldly expressing your opinion. One example of this is a newly published blog, by an experienced blogger and 5th grade teacher, for her students and students’ families. Stoddert5 is the blog of Rachel Henighan who is returning to her Washington DC school after a fellowship in Mongolia. The tone of her blog mimics the intercom announcements I remember from school where the principal gave important information for the day. Rachel introduces herself and gives some important and interesting information about her life. She also describes what a blog is and how she plans on using the technology to add depth to the classroom experience.

She also encourages the blog to be a forum and clearly is using the technology as one part of her classroom communication strategy.

You can also use the blog as a way to communicate with me. The “e-mail me” link connects directly to my address. You can also “Post a Comment” that can be viewed on the site by all visitors. This might be a good way to support a student’s work. I will also be happy to post notes you need to communicate with other classroom parents.

Whatever is posted here on Stoddert5 will also be available in hard copy for families who have limited access to the internet. I am also happy to spend time helping family members learn how to navigate this blog if it seems too challenging.

“It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.”

This is just a BIG FAT LIE! If you are open to using blogging technologies in creative ways, you will learn that they have the potential of making communication much, much easier. They do this by:

• being available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. This means that people can find information when they are looking for it.
• being syndicated which means that people subscribe to a feed (bloglines or newsgator) and get the information delivered to them at the time they are prepared to listen
• being a searchable archived set of content. This means that you enter the information once and the information is available as the need arises.

In my view, blogs are perfect for educating and keeping people informed. If you are buying this notion, then you will see how blogs can be used in many areas for many different groups. They can be used by:

• managed care companies for providing information about processes and plan updates
• teachers and schools for classroom and parent communication
• nonprofits for announcements, cause related news, fundraising events and donor communication
• healthcare organizations for introducing new providers, patient education and information about accessing services
• professional speakers and authors for giving people glimpses into you as a person and the topics on which you speak

So if you are new to reading blogs, considering starting a blog or are one of those people who proclaims that blogs are stupid, consider the technology and the creative ways you can use it.

Tags: blogs, teachers, classroom communication, healthcare communication, nonprofit communication, managed care, education, classroom, school