Educational Leaders and Blogs

The internet has evolved very rapidly in the last 15 years. We used to use it for simple research and accessing data. Now we use it for just about everything. We make reservations online, buy all sorts of items, apply for jobs, and pretty much anything you can think of. Weblogs or blogs for short have become increasingly popular due to their ease of use and versatility. We can post ideas at an instant and have feedback from just about anyone who is interested in what you have to write. You can easily connect with those blogs you like by being a follower or joining their network. The best part of blogs is that they are free. Who likes free? Educators love the word free. Educational leaders such as principals, superintendents and technology leaders have jumped on the bandwagon and have started using Blogs to become better leaders. Many principals around the nation have used blogs to post their thoughts, ideas and experiences (Dana, 2009). As a result, principals can now share with other leaders in a very informal manner and achieve unprecedented results. Principals who choose to follow and join the blogs can asynchronous access the blogs and contribute ideas or suggestions without having to be anywhere near geographically. One principal, David Truss, has been able to transmit his ideas online for others to read and also for his self reflection (Dana, 2009). Some of those ideas may have been lost forever in his mind had he not posted them on his blog. The support one receives on a blog can lead to collaboration of ideas that can truly make a difference in leadership decisions. Blogs allow you reach specific audiences with permission (closed community) or can be put out there for the whole world to read (open blog community). Blog also serve another purpose. They may be able to capture lightning in a bottle. Blogs are a great place to collect your data. Author Nancy Fichman Dana explains that "blogs can capture their thinking as an inquiry unfolds." This allows for continuous learning because a principal can access his or her collection of data rapidly to make better informed decisions as well as share them with other colleagues who may be in dire need of the data. The author believes that this is crucial to the "evolution of your inquiry" (Dana, 2009). I think the question most educational leaders should be asking themselves is "why haven't I started a blog yet?"

Sources:
pp 87-89 & 149-151 from

Fichman, Nancy Dana (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.