[NB Apparently this is just shonky link getting stuff… I’ve nofollowed the appropriate links but I guess the comments still stand.]
Just got an interesting email congratulating me on Bionic Teacher being in the top 100 educational blogs.
Interesting not only because it’s not my blog, it’s Jim & Tom’s, and they moved to their own hosting a while back, (which is the second post on the page) – but also because the Top 100 claims that there are at least 5,000 education blogs (with possibly hundreds or even thousands more!)
Now I’m not going to bother to search out that 60K number a bit back (mainly because I didn’t think that held a lot of weight at the time) but instead ask you to roll over to edublogs, scroll down to the footer and check out that number alone!
No biggie, but I would’ve expected a little better in the way of research from the Online Education Database… and where was mention for edublogs eh? eh? eh? Naturally this is my sole real whinge ;)
Anyway, regardless I suppose it’s kinda nice to see The Knowledge Tree listed there as a blog (which means I’ve achieved my aim of blogifying a journal – w00t!) together with the always excellent Graham Wenger.
But if you really want to check out the best of the educational blogosphere may I recommend – alongside this (because it does have a lot of very good blogs in there) – the winners (and the nominees) of the edublog awards.
Oh, and have a great Christmas, new year and break (if you can get it) – exciting things are in store for 2007.
Hey James, imagine my surprise when I open my aggregator and found a post from Incsub! Long time, no post, eh?
I expect there are many who will get this email – it’s a troll for links (exactly like from your post here) to give the site more Google juice. At least that’s my take on it. Pretty clever, actually. Announce to many of the popular edubloggers that they are in the top 100, and given their existing google juice, any links back to your site announcing their award…
Where have you gone? Did I miss some announcement (I’m sure I did) about a change in focus? Or are you just insanely busy like the rest of us? Cheers, Scott
Well, consider me trolled :) Nofollows coming up.
I must be getting rusty eh!
I’m a mass of contradictions at the moment – and that’s probably only going to get worse sooner… but you ‘aint seem the last of me!
Just someone trying to steal some thunder in the wake of the Eddies, plus their badge is nowhere near as nice as Josie’s! Thanks for the plug – it’s a lot more credible coming from you than the OEDB, whoever they are. Plus only six Aussies – c’mon!
Great- my first “award” and it’s from a bunch of link trolls. :) Oh well, I’ll take what I can get.
I did want to thank you for hosting me for so long. Your free hosting combined with Steve Dembo’s encouragement is what got me started. I wouldn’t have done it without that combination and it has really changed what I teach, how I teach and more importantly how I learn. So thanks again!
And now that I’ve buttered you up, any chance I could get an export of the BionicTeacher database? I couldn’t figure out a way to do that with my current permissions.
A final thanks,
Tom
James! so you’re back on air! I also got that ‘top 100 education blogs’ message – and saw viral marketing written all over it really – though I was in good company, so go figure. I’ll stick with my nice badge from Josie, and making real connections with the best bloggers in the world…yeh, you’re there ….. still in 2007? or is Fairfax taking up all your thinking power? Have a great Christmas :-)
Sadly (for me) Bionic Teaching made it at 84 and Bionic Teacher was in at 25. It’d have been nice to make a real list twice or once for that matter.
I guess I’ll have to cancel that appointment to have their badge tattooed on my arm.
Tom
Hi James,
This is Jimmy Atkinson from OEDb.
First off, I do apologize for contacting you regarding Bionic Teaching. I noticed that they had been hosted here and I confused Bionic Teaching’s Jim (of Jim & Tom) for you, James.
Yes, we definitely missed some good blogs on our list — edublogs included. (It’s hard to be comprehensive. But, we have updated the statistics in the intro to our list.) I also agree the Edublog Awards are extremely useful; our own collection is simply some of our personal favorites.
I’m sorry if my organization or I came across to you as wanting to take advantage of you or any other bloggers. We are simply interested in sharing our work and obtaining feedback on it from those willing to provide it.
In any case, have a good holiday! Cheers, Jimmy
Jimmy, from my perspective you haven’t done anything *wrong*; you have an opinion, you expressed it. What’s fascinating to me is to see the number of people who are acknowledging this and linking back to it; even people (and I’m not going to spread any more google juice links here) who plainly see this for what it is. All I can say to them is Baah, Baah.
You want to get noticed and *participate* in a global conversation about online learning? Great, welcome. But why not join it the way everyone else does: write something interesting (yes, I saw the “77 Ways to Learn Faster” piece, good start, I didn’t link to it but others did); produce something useful (something other than a silly list like this; we all have them, we call em ‘blogrolls’); link to what others are writing about; read their blogs and join the ‘conversation.’ If you do this, trust me, people will welcome you in. If that’s what you felt you were doing, well, sorry, but it looks an awful lot like someone sitting in the corner of a crowded party and then jumping up and yelling ‘you, you and you are my favourites’ and then expecting that this will get them included in the conversation. Well, whatever, but it don’t work for me at least.
Or write stuff about why people should ban comments, or how citizen journalism sucks or… oops :)