A Teacher’s Thoughts

At first I thought that this was only because I was new to the edubloggerworld but now I am thinking that there is likely some solid math to the issue. In a network, how do you know which way leads elsewhere?
As I click through my feed reader, looking at others’ sites and their connections I begin to get the feeling that many roads exist between different individuals but that the road that leads out, to somewhere where most everything is new, is ,well, disguised. In fact you need to travel each path to find it.
Jeff Utecht posted an image of connections made during the learning 2.0 conference in Shanghai which I think well illustrates the point, although it is a highly simplified illustration of what I mean. Different nodes exist with a variety of connections, lacking in the image are the multiple interconnections between different nodes. Even if these interconnections were present, what is there to distinguish one from the next? Finding that one connection that leads to a place with new voices and different ideas is complicated. One complication is that we are guided by our interests and must strive to push outside. This is compounded by the varying degree of search engine optimization and marketing knowledge that edubloggers have.
But then there are the traditional networks, these may be completely separate from an online network, or also connected. This was illustrated to me so well recently when a colleague, who is not a part of my online interactions, pointed me to a this You Tube video by Peter Kittle. The video itself is well done. But the larger part for me was that I found, after a little exploring a new place. I quickly added half a dozen feeds to my reader and I was off. Refreshing, even though many of the ideas were the same as what I have seen elsewhere.
And then it happened. I followed my interests and found myself back within my usual place. I guess getting outside of my box requires persistence.