Absolutely, we have “designed and imagined” a school system where only some may succeed and others are forever assigned to the outer circles. It seems like in this day and age we could think of other ways to reach people with varied learning styles and strengths.

True. All you discussed here is how the majority of people feel about social media outlets. All the new platforms have its own opportunities for sure, in communicating/interacting with other people, and as a tool for education. Like you mentioned above, I also would not use this type of platform to publish my work for now. However, I guess it could be a great way to publish/share idea depending on types of research or disciplines. Because there are a lot of publications already, that are actually the results of blogging.

Traditionally, the role of universities and professors has been more or less limited to lecturing and conducting research. Recently, communication technologies have transformed the lives and habits of people, especially students and professors. To meet the resulting demands for adapting technology, there is a global push toward web presence as an indicator of the quality of major universities. Regardless of this pressure, I think the decision to create and maintain a professional blog partly depends on how much a professor wants to present and open him/herself to the new world that is less dependent on time and place and is entirely run by the use of communication technologies.
Expectations from a university professor are now far more than what they were in the past. Professors also work in very different ways from a typical industrial employee. Professors are the international leaders in their own fields who should constantly travel to all over the world and engage in private and public initiatives. As a result of all the changes, they necessarily have a much larger audience, ranging from students to government officials who communicate with the professor and should be aware of his/her activities.
Obviously, a professor’s blog is not a place to share his/her personal life. Rather blogs are media through which professors archive their past work, announce their ongoing activities and propose their future directions. I think the need for maintaining a blog in the age of communication technologies partly stems from the fact that social media (e.g., Facebook, Youtube, etc.) limit the abilities and the audience of a professor due to their commercial nature and intended purposes. Blogs are only managed by their owners and are visible to the public, at any time and at any place, and this global visibility and transparency is a very unique characteristic of our time.

Stephen, you discussed some important points. I agree that thoughts and ideas that shared on social media often not well articulated, this is a valid point. However those who take time and share their thoughts responsibly in different settings create unique opportunities for themselves and others to engage in dialogue, reflect, and learn.

I read somewhere that in 50’s Germany, some newspaper had a tradition of keeping some extra white space above and below articles ( in the arrangement of the articles on pages) before sending it to the typesetters. The idea was tat the first persons who will be reading the article would be the typesetter and they wanted to give them a chance to jump in and discuss their impressions in the same place !

hypothes.is, reminded me of this. It is very convenient to have the original thesis and reactions to it overlayed onto the same page. I think I will enjoy this digital tool.

I think I have a fair understanding of the issue you raise about power relations and classical authority of the “Teacher” in classrooms. And I wholeheartedly believe in a need for change. But then the difficulty, in my opinion is STEM. Science seems to be, by its nature, an authoritarian field that gives ultimate power to reason and logic. So it becomes very convenient that its education becomes mostly teachers feeding information (Truth) to students. And then, of course, the notions of community building that you refer to in your post becomes so sparse in engineering classrooms.

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I’m a runner and a blogger as well, and I really appreciate this perspective. Personally I find it much easier to forego blogging than to miss a run. Running always revives and centers me, while with my blog I have to be in the right head space to want to write. Thanks!

Thank you for your thought Britton! I think your concerns regarding online courses are valid, students may miss opportunities to enhance their soft skills, and of course the extent of effectiveness of learning subject matters is under question. Despite all shortcomings, online courses might provide access to many who do not have access to face-face education for a variety of reasons. It can also provide meaningful resources for professional development an life-long learning.

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Thanks for this reflection on how networking supports your scholarly community. I think this one of those “forest vs. trees” issues. We’ve been accustomed to thinking about research and scholarly production as being the solitary endeavor of talented and hard working individuals, but in fact we are social creatures, not islands. We are hard wired to collaborate and share, and we get further, faster when we do.

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Wow! Everything I wanted to say has been addressed in this terrific comments. So I’ll just add my voice to the chorus applauding the graphics. Thanks for this very thoughtful reflection.