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Update: Academic Blogging Framework: Jigging, Setting
Jon Dron's post on nets and sets has inspired me on to do further development on the academic blogging framework I have been developing, leading me to tentatively add "jigging", "setting" and "texturing" as crucial steps necessary for learners to use the AU landing effectively while engaged in knowedge construction. I think it is important we identify and describe these activities so that participants can begin blogging with more focus. The framework is a guide to aid learners and possibly a self-assessment tool for students seeking to make sense of their learning while using the blogging tool.
Jon, I would be interested in finding out more about how you distinguish between sets and nets. I am wondering if your view of nets can be applied to a separate category of network construction activity (tentatively called netting)
While away on a month-long vacation, I did a lot of fishing, and upon my return to the Landing, I realized that I had been dipping my toes into the activity and the wire data streams to collect data, a different activity from monitoring RSS feeds. I am thus using jigging as a separate term for the use of data streams - much like a fisherman attempts to snag a fish when jigging (the terms casting and trolling were terms I had also briefly considered).
Jon Dron wrote a post that talked about nets and sets, and I thought the terms as apt metaphors for how bloggers are "fishing" for data. I was also interested in how Jon describes the significance of sets when describing online activity:
Sets are also wonderful for for lumping, averaging, summing, counting, weighting and rating, comparing and sorting.
Sets are perfect when we want to find something and we know what kind of thing it is - in structured data, especially.
Sets are great when we want to model the entities in the world, to find out what kinds of things are out there, how many there are, what they are like, what most interests them as a whole. The vast majority of databases in the world owe their forms to set theory and are composed of sets.
Sets are fabulous tools to filter not just things that are in a set but also the things that are not.
Sets are just made for harnessing collectives: for instance, tag clouds are based on sets, not nets - typically, we count how many times a tag has been used and weight it in the list by popularity. Similarly, sets are far better than nets for voting: it is mighty interesting that a knows b and b knows c but, in some contexts, it is way more important that there were two votes for x and one vote for y.
I have decided upon the term "setting" to carry on the fishing analogy (in this case, the use of the set, or lines of baited hooks, to catch deep-ocean fish like halibut or red snapper) although I did consider the use of harnessing initially. Thus, specific activities that are recorded by students in blog posts that document setting activities of one's own, or other bloggers, is an important additional element of knowledge construction.
The framework is an attempt to describe autonomous learners as they progress and develop skills as academic bloggers within cohorts, seminars, learning partnerships, independent learning and during the preparation of their e-portfolios.
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VSM System |
Learning Processes |
Blogging* Activities |
Description |
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Adjusting (within cohort) |
Knowledge Construction |
Berry Picking |
Blog posts that involve identifying, evaluating and selecting resources; collecting ideas, links, and references; creating annotated bookmarks within Delicious, adding annotated bookmarks to profile page;
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Jigging |
Blog posts that describe personal strategies and experiences while tapping into data streams such as Twitter feeds, network wire feeds, network activity streams, and use of email alerts and RSS feeds;
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Setting |
Blog posts that involve active identification, sorting, comparing and analysis of other users’ ‘data sets’, such as dashboards, followers’ collections, bookmarks, and tag clouds |
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Piling |
Blog posts that detail decisions for classifying own posts using Tags, categorizing posts, adding tags, keywords, and reasons for culling and revising tags; impressions of Tag Clouds of own and others’ blogs;
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Weaving |
Blog posts that demonstrate summarizing of content, embedding links into posts; adding quotes and citing sources from others’ posts, articles, web sites, podcasts and other multi-media resources
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Texturing |
Blog posts that explain strategies for tracking switches of narrative tone, voice and register; engages and addresses multiple audiences; provides textual cues such as highlighting, font changes, color-coding, meta-commenting, and layering (multiple revisions, comments interspersed with updated links and content)
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Path-Finding |
Blog posts that describe activities surrounding searching for, evaluating, identifying and selecting online tools, experts, and resources (hit-miss experiences)
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Path-Making |
Blog posts that describe strategies (what works, most promising practices) used for search and collection routines for using search tools/portals; posts that review others’ posts that describe path-making activities
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Sense-Making |
Blog posts that engage in self-talk, rehearsals, or pause-points, or involve pulling ideas into coherent frameworks such as schemas and typologies; posts that involve elaboration, evaluation, and analysis of ideas and concepts;
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Path-Sharing |
Blog posts intended to inform and share best practices with others and/or that involve sharing experiences of how they have learned within the network, and mentoring others on skills and knowledge required for path-finding and path-making;
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Sense-Giving |
Blog posts that involve passing along experiences and summary impressions, or which demonstrate modeling skills, mentoring, reporting, exchanging ideas, and acting as witness and observer and commenter;
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VSM System |
Learning Processes |
Blogging* Activities |
Description |
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Coordinating
Monitoring
(Within formal practice network)
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Network Construction |
Awareness |
Blog posts that describe personal impressions, such as first impressions of network activity, or expressing concerns and ambivalence, or describing activities of scanning, reading, and reviewing of online resources, or posts that involve identifying learners’ gaps in skills and knowledge (self-identified or based on feedback); |
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Articulation |
Blog posts that involve explorations both within and beyond instructor’s blog, group blog, and peers’ blogs; descriptions of these initial explorations and interactions with others; posts that also include discoveries and observations of others’ networking activities, and conclusions impacting one’s own practice |
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Aggregate |
Blog posts that bring together content, links, profiles and identify usage patterns; use of Delicious bookmarks, RSS feed aggregators; creation of blog-rolls, tag clouds, collections, groups, followers lists within several social networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. |
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Re-Use |
Blog posts that involves re-examining, culling, filtering, re-organizing, or revising of earlier, archived blog posts, feeds, and comments; may involve return to drafts or readings, weaving emails or work from assignments into new blog posts; or re-circulating updated posts and content; |
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Re-Mix |
Blog posts which draw ideas from multiple sources, and summarize, analyze and report on ideas; learners’ posts may also draw from own archived content to re-visit old themes and topics for further elaboration;
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Feed-Forward |
Blog posts that involve sharing and exchanging of blog-rolls, RSS feeds, and bookmarks to various audiences, as well as re-tweeting and expanding followers/following lists |
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Process Capture |
Blog posts that demonstrate systematic recording of learners’ thought processes and ideas using multi-modal posts, such as use of scanned notes, concept maps, embedded videos, documents, slide presentations, rich pictures, and podcasts; |
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Product Creation |
Blog posts that map the progression of the learners’ preparation, planning, and performing of learning events, reflections on practice, or the development of the learners’ e-portfolios |
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Maintenance |
Re-posting of older content to maintain currency; blog posts that describe the process of monitoring of blog site analytics, including the revision and deletion of sites and links, or the culling of inactive RSS feeds; |
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Review |
Blog posts that demonstrate post-performance summaries or critiques, summary reflections and reviews of the learners’ overall site activities; |
Academic Blogging Circle
