Blogging relies upon the mastery of many technical skills such as the use of RSS Feeds and Aggregators, Blog-Rolls, Tags and Categories. However, learning how to effectively engage in data collection and analysis, reflection, and data-and-process capture are equally crucial for using blogs as a powerful, compelling lifelong learning tool.

Indeed, blogging is about learning to use tags, tag clouds, categories, blog rolls, (re)tweets, RSS and email subscriptions, etc. In addition, blogging is about learning more than how to engage in remixing, feed-forwarding and path-sharing strategies, it requires you to re-invent your voice as you engage in academic, professional and personal learning.

There is recent evidence buzzing arounfd the internet that autonomy, mastery, and purpose lead to greater innovation and greater learning than "required", by the numbers, learning. This has significant consequences for the future of formal education.

The mission of the academic blogging circle is to promote blogging activity within AU landing, and generate a discussion of best (and promising) practices. The intent is to draw as many of the blogging community from within the practice network to a central node, to explore ways individuals use their blogs for formal and non-formal learning. Hopefully, over time, the blogging circle will also include guest bloggers from outside of the AU landing community, and be one of the core nodes for Canadian academic bloggers.

The blogging tool enables educators and learners to embark on a different kind of learning, one that is more learner-centred, less structured, and takes as the starting point that the learner is a partner in the learning process, and that both the learner and their mentor participate in a partnership that involves a dialogue.

I want to invite you to begin an academic blog devoted to developing your academic blogging skills either as self-directed learner to better make use of the web's resources and engage in what I call lifelong, connective writing, or as a professional using the blogging tool to reflect on practice.