Stephen’s Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~
One of my student bloggers from last semester’s course wrote recently and commented on the transitions that were happening with some of the eduboggers that he had been reading regularly. Stephen Downes’ hiatus and Will Richardson’s posts on some of the issues he was wrestling with were raising some questions about the long-term viability of a community dedicated to serious thinking about how to use new web tools to improve (and even transform) parts of higher education. I think the community has staying power because a growing number of teachers/learners have an this kind of internal drive:
What brings me back is a desire to make things better, to contribute my own unique voice to what I see as a rennaissance. Like this: “What edubloggers must do is to continue to engage in critical dialogue, reflect, and communicate with those around us. We must be the ones who stand up and take responsibility for the struggle (If not us, then Who?). We must reflect and act together in a way that offers a new story, a new vision of education can be. Start by looking in the mirror: Meet the new boss; you’re not the same as the old boss…”
Perhaps – but we do not need vision and will, we do not need great leaders. There will be no revolution, no rennaissance, until we change ourselves, until we ourselves become the embodiment of the caring and compassionate society we want to create. How hard that is! I return from my time away more aware than ever of how fallible, how ordinary, how human I am. Oh my yes, I have my apologies to give and my amends to make. Still, no matter how hard it is, we need to believe in ourselves, to believe we can make a difference, to believe we matter, to believe we can live freely. This, above all, must be our legacy.
Thanks, Stephen, for reminding us.
