The Internet

Tonight I'm going to lead a small group discussion at my church about the Internet. They think I'm a techie. Actually I'm a marketing/business person who can talk to engineers. My masters degree is in telecom management from OSU which is basically their MBA program with some network engineering in lieu of some finance courses.

But I didn't have any personal experience with blogs until this class - so just in time!

This fits nicely with my dissertation topic which will look at the hybrid format for educational delivery - specifically which components are most effectively delivered online and which are most effectively delivered in a traditional classroom setting.

I did a study last fall at Rogers State University (where I am a member of the business and technology faculty) about concerns of students when selecting an online vs. traditional classroom course. I collected quantitative information but did include one open-ended question which provided some rich insights about format preference among university students for courses they select. Boiled down in a nutshell - and I'm not a qual research (in fact am taking qual 1 this semester) - it appears that those who prefer the online format are working mothers (and parents but mostly women) who want or need a degree for job advancement. They are juggling multiple demands and need the flexibility that an online course can provide regarding work pace and choice of working on classwork any time during the night or day.

So now I'm wondering about the learning components delivered by a student blog . . . and, no doubt, that is why Dr. Stansberry has prescribed this format for us as a learning activity. I'm eager to experience it firsthand.

Blogging from a marketer's perspective

Which came first? The need to blog or the technology to support blogging? From a marketer's perspective, products and services are developed to meet customers' needs and wants. From a technologist perspective, technology advances can prove solutions to needs and wants we may not even know we have.

Countless nostalgic articles have been written about how the times have changed over the past several decades. It has been said that half of all knowledge known to humankind today has been discovered, developed, or created within the past 100 years. Given that pace, is technology opening doors for new products and services? Are our needs and wants changing? When does leading edge become bleeding edge?

In the case of blogging, the more prolific of us have always been predisposed to putting thoughts on paper. In private, these became diaries. If published, they became memoirs.

But blogging differs significantly (in my opinion) from journaling and writing a diary because of the mere fact that it's public. Sharing private thoughts in a public fashion? Seems like an oxymoron. So why the appeal? Who benefits? Do blogs contribute to the public domain of knowledge or are they insights into personal thoughts and opinions now given a public platform via technology?

Perhaps of most interest to me is this question: how can blogs be used most effectively to facilitate learning?