Assigned blogging

Glogowski uses Richardson's term assigned blogging to make a point that technology itself does not ensure collaboartive, creative learning. Instead of developing and nurturing student interest and talent, assigning topics regularly ends up being just another prompt driven exercise. That's not to say that we should never assign specific tasks or prompts but rather begs the question of what is the balance between assignments that do open new doors and those that encourage students to pursue their own passions? I believe that we need to always struggle to find that balance. In order for students to know what their true passions are and to be tolerant and even excited about others' interests, they do need a wide exposure to new ideas and information. It is our job to expand their horizons, just as it is our job to strengthen their skills and talents and help them develop those skills by encouraging contact with like-minded people.
We were having a similar discussion at our differentiation table around the topic of teaching to the multi-intelligence model. As we try to get to know our students well and teach to their styles and strengths, should we not also be exposing them to other ways of learning so they develop a repertoire or some amount of facility when in different situations that require different set of skills?
Funny, I just realized that even though I titled this post about a technology tool - a blog, I really didn't deal with it, but instead talked about what we do with the tool. I think I'm coming to like that term 'tool'. It does imply that you have to do something with the tool for it to be useful. A hammer is just a hammer until it's used to pound a nail to connect something together. A technology tool should be used in education to enhance and stimulate the learning process. The challenge, as Glogowski points out, is that technology can and should be used to encourage a different kind of learning than what occurs in a contained classroom. Most tools do allow us to be creative and analytical if we don't constrict them all the time.