My (Clive) recent experiences writing blogs and discussing them with my ITE class have made me think more about blogging as a writing and communication form. This in turn has led me to look more closely at the blogs posted at Progressive Blog Digest by my friend Nick Burbules, who I know through the Philosophy of Education Society. http://pbd.blogspot.ca/2014_02_01_archive.html
So far as I know, Nick established this site – and maintains it – on his own. (I’ll try to entice him to give us some back story.) It must take up a great deal of his time: it appears almost every day and is extraordinarily informative. It focuses mainly on US politics, taking a “progressive” approach to issues, while not avoiding all criticism of Democratic icons such as President Obama. The tone reminds me of Rachel Madow of MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
What is distinctive and so valuable about the site is that while Nick obviously has strong views, he doesn’t use it as a soap-box. His one-liners (often one-worders) are clever, funny and pointed. But they are followed by anywhere from one to half-a-dozen links that give followers immediate access to relevant information, examples and articles. I can imagine people spending a lot of time at this site, loving it, and learning a great deal. Which presumably is just what Nick wants.