Comments on: Take Your Learning To The Comments

By: The Problem with Learning in Business School | GALVANIZD

The Problem with Learning in Business School | GALVANIZD — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:14:38 +0000

[...] while back my friend Malcolm had wrote a post about “Taking Your Learning to the Comments” when it came to blogging. It had really resonated because at the time I was reading and now [...]

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:38:28 +0000

Totally. I like comments as a tool for learning because good blog authors will provide you with a clear idea or question to respond to, hence the comparison to commenting being almost like a test.

Speaking of online comments being tracked, just today I've seen some blog traffic come from people Googling "by malcolm bastien" (quotes included). What you could easily infer from that is that people were looking for precisely that, my 'comment portfolio' online.

I would expect employers commonly do the same when scouting potential hires.

By: danielpatricio

danielpatricio — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:23:09 +0000

I think where you are going with this one is that a comment online isn't just a shot in the dark like a comment in class.

An online comment is tracked and becomes a part of your portfolio. By interacting and participating on people's blogs you are developing an online resume of your thoughts and opinions in addition to extending relationships by connecting and participating on thoughts and building up the value of any given blog post sometimes beyond the initial post.

A blog post doesn't have to be a statement. Often times I am tempted to rewrite an article with added insight after reading and taking in the comments.

By: Daniel Patricio

Daniel Patricio — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:19:27 +0000

I think where you are going with this one is that a comment online isn’t just a shot in the dark like a comment in class.

An online comment is tracked and becomes a part of your portfolio. By interacting and participating on people’s blogs you are developing an online resume of your thoughts and opinions in addition to extending relationships by connecting and participating on thoughts and building up the value of any given blog post sometimes beyond the initial post.

A blog post doesn’t have to be a statement. Often times I am tempted to rewrite an article with added insight after reading and taking in the comments.

By: Will

Will — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:10:33 +0000

I wouldn't go so far as taking participation to online only.

Rather, I'd encourage to EXTEND it online.. anything that works for you that would further engage you and think about your subject matter more critically through taking different perspectives from other peoples' comments.

By: puleen

puleen — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 14:32:51 +0000

As someone who also attends Ryerson (part-time) I encourage people to participate (in whatever format they prefer) for two main reasons, 1) Simply to earn participation points and 2) Despite not knowing, if one is willing to ask a silly question or provide a silly answer chances are one will have an opportunity to broaden their horizon by getting involved in a healthy discussion. The latter strictly depends on how passionate an individual is about knowing more on the topic or a different viewpoint from fellow classmates.

Blogs are a great way to learn. The misconception, that is within everyone's minds about relating blogs to a facebook profile or myspace account which are geared primarily towards social chattering, is the primary reason for it not being used as a learning tool. If you look at blogs that talk about leadership, technology, collaboration all great tools, but they do not get the same level of exposure within the educational environment.

A suggestion would be for professors (at Ryerson or elsewhere) to include Blogs, related to the course material, as part of the "Readings" to a certain level. That may increase students' use of them in their day-to-day usage.

This really is an interesting topic to explore!

Cheers!