#4

A) Commenting helps create a sense of community by letting the author know that he or she is not simply posting to themselves. On of the two authors we were instructed to read about commenting indicated that without comments she feels like she's talking to herself. Blogger commenting is like a more open version of Facebook status update commenting. The difference here is the commenting is necessary because there isn't a pre-established community or group of friends. Whilst blogging may be a little too democratic of my taste, blogging by an educator makes some sense because he or she is an 'expert' in the field of discussion.

B) 1) His post regarding one's not responding to blog posts causing an aura of elitism is a good point, but I imagine this rule depends on the circumstances. The following are contrasting examples. When I was doing my BA at WKU students, facility, parents, and the administration would debate various campus related issues via the Herald's online comments feed. Additionally, the author of said articles would defend their work via the same comments feed. This free flowing debate of ideas and check on journalistic integrity was possible only because the paper's readership is small subset of the general population (College educated with an average to above average IQ). Now, contrast the previous example to the readership of the Clarksville's local newspaper - The Leaf Chronicle. During my time at WKU and living overseas I kept up with my hometown by reading The Leaf Chronicle. The only problem was that only a handful of homophobic anti-tax racists ever bothered to comment on the articles in the paper. These posters were often abusive to both the news and editorial staff at The Leaf Chronicle and rarely engaged in any substantive debate. In short - my point is that one should only respond to comments that are worthy of a response.

2) I also took issue with 'Be Humble'. Whilst I don't believe that a blogger should be a jerk, I also don't believe that one should post anything online without first informing themselves about subject for which they are posting. I understand the idea of publishing a post enquiring for expertise, but I don't believe anyone should 'shoot from the hip'.

C) akearns

April Bumpus

Christina Ray

Tiffany A

Kara Wyatt

Edublogger

Right on the Left Coast: View From A Conservative Teacher
It's not all Flowers and Sausages

I chose the first five blogs simply because they are published by students in the course that had already took the time to establish their blogs. Their willingness to jump in and getting going indicates that they will be productive bloggers.

- I originally decided to follow The EduBlogger because his blog provides information on administering a blog. However, his Rant #3 on Apple E-Textbooks led to my final decision to follow him. I believe that he's profoundly misguided on this issue - but it also proves that his blog is very current.

- I also decided to follow Right on the Left Coast: View From A Conservative Teacher, because his blog seems to stir the pot on education. Being as social Libertarian with varying big L Liberal views on most economic issues, it will be interesting to see what a "Conservative" has to say on education issues. I'll probably discuss these debates with my Aunt (whom is a member of a teachers union) before I come to a final conclusion on the issues raised.

- Given that Right on the Left Coast: never seems to approve comments, I was instructed to find another blog to comment on. So, I chose to follow It's not all Flowers and Sausages because she is very upfront and does not beat around the edges.

D) 

My Comment on thee Global Classroom Project

I chose to comment on this blog post, because the Global Classroom Project is something that would be very useful to teaching my content area. As a future Social Studies teacher, it would ordinarily be very difficult to get students to understand foreign perspectives on American foreign policy without their having traveled outside of the US. This type of Web 2.0 tool will allow my students to take a 'virtual field trip' to the other side of the world and discuss contemporary issues with their peers in a foreign country. This tool will help my students become more well-rounded individuals that will be more likely to succeed in globalized economy of the 21st Century.

The Use of Copyrighted Materials

I chose to comment on this post about proposed copyright legislation, because the proposed legislation would have a detrimental impact on my classroom instruction. The blogger and commentators provide resources that help teachers determine if 'fair use' applies to media they pull from the internet. Whilst - as a professional - I will utilize the guidelines provided in this blog post, I find the vagueness of our copyright laws to be overly burdensome on educators and and system administrators. In my post, I agreed with one of the commentators that argued teachers have more leeway in using copyrighted materials than does the general public. There is a strong argument to be made that a profit motive must exist in order of an educator to be in violation of the law.

I'll post my comment from It's not all Flowers and Sausages when it is approved my the moderator.

I'll will follow the option to edit this section later in the course. Note: "Right on the Left Coast" must approve blog posts - which apparently he rarely does.