flickr photo shared by mrkrndvs under a Creative Commons ( BY-SA ) license
I discovered this week that I had been nominated for the 2015 Edublogs Awards under the category of best Ed Tech / Resource Sharing. What an honour to even be considered in the same space as Alan Levine, Richard Byrne, Alice Keeler and Mark Anderson. Like others, it has left me wondering what it might actually mean to be nominated? Why do I even blog? And what do such awards represent?
So, is the best blogger the most prolific? Most helpful? Most regular? Most influential? For me the ‘best’ blogger is the one who gives others a voice. Holds on loosely and provides a space for ideas to grow. A place of new beginnings. The problem with this is that such a space is a connected one and difficult to isolate. Rhizomatic in nature. Although we may try to trace ideas to their beginnings, we can never be sure.
So many of my posts are: responses to others, reflections on ideas and activities, a curation of perspectives. Do I deserve credit for these? Are they mine? What I feel is often forgotten is that it takes a village. Although someone will be the ‘winner’, each blog within the different categories adds something to the conversation, all helping make the room smarter.
In the end, like Richard Olsen, I simply hope that I might benefit people onlookers. What that means is up to those who take the arguments and thoughts. If that means you vote for me, thank you. If that means that you disagree with me, thank you. If that means that you build on my ideas, thank you. For it is only together that we are truly made better.
So what about you, what do you think constitutes the best? Maybe more importantly, why do you share? As always, I would love to know.
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Just Remember, It Takes a Village by Aaron Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Congratulations 🙂
And yet.., Does the idea that some blogs or bloggers are better than others ultimately discourage sharing? I spend quite a bit of time encouraging people to share via blogging and supporting new bloggers. Resistance usually takes the form of ‘Am I good enough?’ ‘Do I have anything unique to share?’ ‘ What do I have to contribute?’ ‘What if I’m not as good as others?’
What is achieved by perpetuating the idea that blogs can be ranked? That some are better than others and educators should rather read those?
Let’s encourage as many thoughtful educators as possible to share, so that everyone can benefit.
Thanks Edna. I really like seeing the ‘best’ new blogs category because it allows for those blogs that still smell of fresh paint to get a bit of air. However, when I opened up my Feedly the other day and discovered that I had 150+ blogs that I was following, where are all their voices? How are we really celebrating the village? The diversity? The bloggers who manage to post a gem only once a month. In the end, it is complicated.
I appreciate being recognised, but always on the shoulders of giants.
Thanks Aaron-you are always so generous in many ways. I blog to recognise and acknowledge others, to question, to share, to reflect, to speak up and to hopefully support others. Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about awards, rewards and recognition since it is the time for many ‘Speech days’. Is it recognition and feeling valued that teachers and students desire or is it that trophy, certificate and prize? I wonder if we recognised all our colleagues and their strengths and make them feel valued, would it create a more positive culture? Thanks for always asking the questions that have me thinking.
I really like what Steve Brophy is doing at Ivanhoe to celebrate learning Ivanhoe Learn. Creating a collaborative blog which allows for many voices to share in the one space. I think that this has so much potential, that is sharing the load of blogging, the challenge I feel is getting to the point where you have more than the usual. I think that if we get there that it could have a positive impact on culture. However, I also wonder if that means I maybe need less me, more them and whether that is the biggest problem.