Bully for Blogging

By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 7/1/2006

Given the popularity of blogging, it's hard to imagine that the online phenom would need any PR. But that's the motivation behind SupportBlogging!, a wiki that encourages educators to exchange ideas about blogging as a learning tool.

Launched in June, SupportBlogging! is the brainchild of parent and computer professional Steve Hargadon, who says the project was spurred by the controversial Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA). The proposed bill calls for limiting children's use of sites that let users create public Web pages or profiles or engage in chat rooms or e-mail. Targets of the bill include social networking sites such as MySpace.com, but also blogs like those supported by the free network, Blogger.com.

Hargadon is concerned that overzealous legislators might be throwing the baby out with the bathwater in an effort to protect children online. “As a parent with four children, I'm particularly sensitive to the dangers of the Internet,” he says. “But let's be careful when setting policy that we don't cut off opportunities for the read/write Web.” Hargadon says the wiki will describe the distinctions between edublogs and social networking sites and link to some of his favorite student-run blogs around the country.

Hargadon first learned about educational blogging when his company began selling refurbished computers to schools seven years ago. He then developed computer labs, outfitted with Linux and other open source software, and installed them in underfunded schools, he says. Last year, Hargadon cohosted an open-source booth at the National Educational Computing Convention (NECC). He plans to attend NECC's upcoming conference in San Diego (July 5–7) to teach attendees about using blogs and wikis. “I believe in the value of writing, what it does for a child, and what a blog does to engage them,” says Hargadon.