WeblogsInEducation(at)SchoolBlogs.com : The Holy Grail

Discussing the pros and cons of various software may been a pleasant time-filler but it should never become a quest for the edublogging 'Holy Grail'. That will only lead to a lack of application on the educational frontline. As some commentators have pointed out, teachers are not interested in the intricacies of the software itself. They want to see what it delivers in terms of teaching and learning. They will been convinced by a body of evidence that weblogging might be worthwhile for classroom use. The conviction among teachers that it may be worthwhile will be converted into classroom implementation not by perfect software, but by blogging educators who are willing to exert an influence in their own environments. The revolution is not software driven but rather led by educators who are comfortable with their own choices of imperfect software and who will provide a positive sphere of influence for those around them.

Amen. Perfectly put. A thought provoking article that deserves to be read by everyone with an interest in the use of weblogs (and content management systems) in education. The paragraph after the one cited above can be summed up as 'use what you know and are comfortable with'. It looks like I'll be involved in a project at the local school in September under the auspice of Extreme Learning (XL) and since I'm most comfortable with Conversant that is what I'm suggesting the school use.