As the number of bloggers continues to grow at a dizzying rate, Scott C. McLeod worries that school leaders are being left behind.
So last October, the self-taught techie and education professor at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities offered to create Web logs for 100 principals in 100 days.
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a major organization that’s not blogging at some level,” Mr. McLeod said of the online phenomenon. “And yet, this is brand-new for schools.”
About 80 principals and other administrators took him up on his offer by his January goal, and since then he’s launched blogs for about 15 more.
Mr. McLeod, the founder of the university’s Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education, got the idea after starting his own blog.
He quickly realized that most of the individuals participating in the online conversations were educational technology people, not principals.
And yet, he saw blogging as a way for school leaders to inform their stakeholders, gather input, and build a shared sense of community for their schools.
Typically, bloggers post their thoughts in a kind of running journal, to which readers can post their reactions, and comment on one another’s comments.
Mr. McLeod is still looking for a few more administrators, including those from school districts’ central offices, who’d like him to create blogs for them, he said recently. He charges no fee.
Last month, he also launched LeaderTalk, which he calls a blog “by school leaders for school leaders,” on which administrators will discuss work-related topics.
Scott C. McLeod posts more information on the LeaderTalk and the Principal Blogging Project.
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For background, previous stories, and Web links, read Technology in Education.
