University Support of Weblogs

Brian Lamb has some exciting news about "...creating and sharing a framework for social software applications for BC's higher education institutions." It's a wonderful opportunity for schools in BC and hopefully, the rest of us will get to taste and share as well. That said, what can/will fuel adoption among faculty and educators of these technologies?

The administrative toolsets are important, yes: Email distribution in addition to RSS feeds, automatic account creation, and so on. However, the key to my mind  is the mindset. It does not matter how feature-rich we make these tools and how grandiose a marketing blitz we implement;  if educators do not beleive that there is true pedagogical value to adopting these technologies they will not come aboard. It's a cultural change that needs to come about and I believe we all have a part to play. Those of us building these tools and setting up the framework for faculty adoption, and those of us, who over a cup of tea or coffee, or in the course of an informal chat in a corridor, "sell" the power of blogging to a resistant, sceptical educator.