Learning from Blogging and Google

I'm amazed. Recently I wrote a blog entry about ASCD's journal, Education Leadership. Soon thereafter I saw that when you type "educational leadership" into Google, my blog came up on the top of second page. Today, when I just checked, it's on the first page. Several days ago, I wrote an entry on Imus and power. When you type the words "Imus blogs" two references to this blog come up on the first page. This is great for my ego, but I think that there's something else here.

What a wonderful educational opportunity?

Challenge your students to see how high they can make something that they produce come up on Google.

Think about the types of thinking and content area work that this would require.

1. They'd obviously have to select a good topic and write about it frequently.
2. Math would be required as they considered which other blogs to post on in an attempt to drive traffic to their own blog. For the purpose of this exercise you could even ask students to justify their choice of blogs on which to post comments.
3. Social Studies - Students could be encouraged to pick topics related to a social science issue. This isn't very difficult since it's possible to tie just about every issue into social studies. Marketing itself is a component of social studies education.
4. This challenge would certainly motivate students to experiment with other tools of Web 2.0, as these other tools could also help drive traffic. For example, if students got involved in social network sites it might drive traffic.

Meta tags would certainly provide another avenue for students to think about statistics and chance.

This activity would not only promote thinking, it would enhance self confidence. It's pretty incredible to know that you have the ability to write something and get it placed highly on Google. Students should recognize that their writing is important and their voice matters.

What's interesting is that I have not systematically attempted to get my blog high on Google. I haven't picked specific words to include in the posting, etc. It's just happened. It sure feels good, though.

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