However, blogging is hard work. It’s a hard habit to maintain. I sometimes rail against this idea that everything must be tracked in some way. In some ways I think that all that really matters is the experience; who really cares about my work, the work that will eventually fade into eternity like my memories and my bones. (This kind of thinking keeps me far away from Twitter at times.)

Yet I’ve enjoyed the conversations I’ve had here with people. I know some have found a few of my posts helpful. I’ve even used my own posts to help me remember some technical issue I’ve solved but long since forgotten how. In the end, I believe the effort is worth it. I think that one of the most valuable things a budding web designer/coder can do is keep a blog…a living diary of creative attempts, gray hairs, and successes to enjoy and learn from. Maybe you will even help someone else out along way.

I’m making this post in honor of the students in the summer session of my XHTML class…as some of them said in the intro forum: maintaining a blog is hard work. Well, that class is hard work! Hard, but worth it.

So, how can these new discourse communities be used to inspire new techniques in the online classroom? Well, first let me share what developing and maintaining my own blog has given me:

• I had to learn to use a new technology, i.e., blogging and content management systems.
• A place to keep my discoveries, be they techniques, websites, tools, or even my own insights. I have found myself referring back to certain posts more than once because they contain information I use again and again.
• A way to track my progress.
• The lovely surprise of meeting people who are interested in the same things I am, and were willing to help me!

I felt that something fundamental changed once I started my own “conversation” with the wider world, although it’s difficult to describe what exactly that was. I do think it had something to do with the fact that I had gained the immediate benefits of social capital, which as defined by Wikipedia means that I gained an “advantage created by a person’s location in a structure of relationships” by defining my location in the first place. It is important in that it is public, it is fresh, it is uncensored, it’s my little corner of this brave new world. It is also difficult to maintain, but is worth the effort.

So, back to my original question: How can I, as an educator, encourage the development of social capital in my students? Well, the first thing is to be a good example. I can share my own blog, encourage comments and participation, and continue to interact with the world at large through the blog. I can also encourage (but probably not require) students to start their own blogs as they begin their educational journey; as I will be teaching students primarily interested in web design at some point having a blog really becomes a professional necessity. Starting this kind of public conversation sooner rather than later is a good thing to do. And I can definitely share with them all the resources, in terms of other blogs, podcasts, and personalities, that I have found absolutely essential to my own professional development. My motto to them would be: Get out there, say something!

This habit, like that of life-long learning, is one well worth fostering in students. Like being able to think logically and analyze information from different resources, it’s a survival skill.

1. Who Represents is where you can find the name of the agent that represents any celebrity. Their Web site is www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com

5. And don’t forget the Mole Station Native Nursery in New South Wales, www.molestationnursery.com

6. If you’re looking for IP computer software, there’s always www.ipanywhere.com

7. And the designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky Web site, www.speedofart.com

This is an excellent resource that deserves to be in every web designer’s del.cio.us. The links are organized under articles and tools, and one of my favorite never-before-discovered tools is the 100 Random Colors tool. The Palette Generator is pretty cool too.

See for yourself!