Making a difference!

Mother rang me to announce the winners of the 2004 EduBlog Awards (The Eddies) while I was away (without the net) in the countryside during the weekend . She's 76 and although not very keen on computers (my father keeps control over the PC), she got all excited about it.
Bee-coming a Webhead had come out on TOP in the Best Use of Blogs within teaching and learning with 40% of the votes (a close shave). When last week I sent a mail telling her I had been nominated , she wanted to see what this was all about and asked my father (83) to cast their vote when the time came. Somehow, out of a sudden, her daughter's mystifying involvement with blogging...(what is a bbbloggg?) seemed to make sense and she got involved and kept track of the results... hers was literally the vote that made the difference :-)

Just like the surprise birthday cake she got for me when we were visiting my grandparents in Buffalo - August 1958 (I was 5.... a lifetime ago!)

This episode brought to my mind another possible use of blogs in education.

Who knows now I can talk them into starting their own personal blog. Father and mother have a thousand and one stories to write about and illustrate ... fleeing Poland during the II World War, people they met, situations they lived, their impressions and adapting to the new land... memories, experience and a testimonial that should not be lost and that could be easily shared with their grandchildren and younger generation through this new medium.

Thank you webheads, students, family and occasional readers for the support. James, a big thanks for spreading the blogging news and the work put into incsub. Contributions like these make a difference and serve as a catalyst for new ideas!