Blog Journal #6

     My experience with Diigo has been a good one that is growing as we continue with the material in class. At first, I was hesitant to engage with the forum because I personally believe the layout lacks feng shui and seems a little outdated in its design. Beyond my personal problems with the aesthetics of the website, it has a relatively easy function which has made access to new materials near trouble-free. My relationship with posting has been minimal as I was confused about the distinction between Diigo and PBWorks but I intend to post more in the coming weeks.

     Blogging is fun because I see it as a stage at times. I’ve always been a performer and I see something like a blogging forum as no different as any other audience. Blogging is traditionally done in a diary entry style format but I appreciate the idea that you can address the audience in a “meta” style. I’ve learned different ways of uniquely addressing the audience while maintaining a level of formality that keeps the focus on the information at hand. I think that attaching the blogging forum to educational information exchange creates a unique way for people to share resources. I participate in blogs with like-minded individuals pretty often in blog-style websites/apps about mutual aid-based action. 

    Reading about Web 2.0 was very interesting in seeing the natural progression of tech advancement within the internet itself. I was even reading about Web 3.0 which made me chuckle thinking “they’re already making Web 3.0 I barely know 2.0” but I digress. The Web 2.0 tool that I would use in my classroom as a teacher would be Youtube. I think that people devalue the importance of learning through watching. There are so many niche content creators on youtube with sub 30,000 views that are beyond informational and as a history teacher, these would be the resources I would use. I would rather have a 28-year-old Ph.D. student with a Youtube channel on history, with a video on chattel slavery, than right-wing think tank PragerU with millions of views. Overall the point is we should be using our access to infinite resources to be pushing educational material that is rooted in fact and teaches as means to progress not to hide.