Way-Making in Action

The slow blog manifesto is a real eye-opener for me.

Six main ideas are presented:

1. Slow blogging rejects immediacy.

2. Slow logging as if speaking like it matters.

3. Slow blogging involves a creative process to allow ideas to become more enduring as part of our own overall ideas landscape.

4. Slow blogging requires us to remain silent and let ideas form.

While I like the idea of slow blogging, and there is certainly much worth in the idea, I realize not all bloggers can ascribe to this, and in fact this post is NOT an example of slow blogging, but a quick gut reaction. I intend to re-work the ideas into a more systematic review. In this case, the blog acts as a recorder of raw, unfiltered ideas, “bubbling up from the depths.”

Another example of a blog that does not ascribe to this position is the personal blog of Stephen Downes, Half an Hour. As he explains it, it is “a place to write, half an hour, just for me”. I love Stephen Downe’s idea of a half-hour blog, in which he spends half an hour a day writing his ideas down. If he were more of a slow blogger, however, his expertise would not likely be shared. So many of his ideas would have disappeared, unexpressed to others, into the passage of time. So many ideas and eureka moments are best partially digested with haste, to generate early connections, then have them set aside for further digesting and review at a later time.

I glanced at the article Stephen has written, and followed a link to Barbara Ganley’s blog, and started reading. She reflects on some truly (her words) subversive, edupunkish (hmm, what is that all about?), ideas:

Idea 1: “Even less is even more. Slowing down, being playful, laughing, going deep. What has happened to common sense, on the one hand, and to a spirit of wandering, on the other?”

Idea 2: “Belonging to the moment, the group/network/community, the experience; and they belonging to us. Take responsibility.”

Idea 3: “Engage our full creative selves in every learning situation.”

Then I followed the link through to Nancy White’s blog. Looks like fascinating reading. Gonna go back and look through it later.

Idea 4: Seek out the edges. It is at the borders of sharing spaces and communities where learning occurs. I like these ideas. I am intrigued. I scan the page further.

I am really impressed with Barbara’s wiki on storytelling, in which computer technology was hardly used during the workshop.

I have just gone to Darcy Norman’s blog and this is a cool layout, I think I will use it on my own blog (currently in limbo, but hopefully will be up and fully operational by May, okay, late May.)

Cool! There is a link to the article Now this is EduPunk. I have heard it mentioned several times during my online wanderings this morning. What is edu-punk?

I am listening to the discussion about edupunk, and one of the participants referred back to Stephen Downes’ posts on his blog.

Very light-hearted, casual discussion:

Jim Groom

“brings the logic of culture back in to education”

“tired of working within the fluorescent-lighted space of the LMS”

Gardner Campbell

“building something that is sustainable as an alternative”

Very interesting stuff. Well worth a look!

I check out Jim Bloom’s site, and then jump over to Alan Levine’s blog. I think some of his posts are far from the range of where I tend to feed 🙂 (I too use the food metaphors – can’t help myself) but I enjoyed his explanation of the
Save the Words site. Staggering!

Later on, Alan goes into detail on how to manipulate the RSS feeds using PHP code in his blog post Three Ways to Kneed RSS. Gonna have to try the code on the test pages on my web site.