I thought long and hard before I replied. There were multiple possibilities. I could:
* rave on evangelistically until his eyes glazed over and he edged nervously back into his office, determined never again to utter something potentially provocative;
* refer him to the CET Teaching with Technology seminar and workshop series, where he'd be introduced by enthusiastic others to the delights and uses of blogging - but the seminar had passed (for now) and signing up for a workshop was already some way down a pathway of commitment I'm not sure he was ready, at this stage, to explore;
* refer him to some of the *other* blogs on our very own blogspot, that were demonstrating blogging for teaching, or blogging for learning, or both. Which I did.
On the blogspot, and in class, interesting things are happening. Students are nurturing blogs, developing voices and personae and finding their audiences, using a range of tools and techniques - including some sophisticated cognitive ones as they get into reflexive mode comparing notes with each other. Exciting conversations develop, and more than one colleague who's been subjected to my febrile mutterings about the developing dynamics has urged it toward publication.
And, lest anyone think that blogging is of use in teaching only where blogging forms the content as well as the medium of instruction - think again! Even the ECOmaniacs have seen its educational potential, and have unleashed a horde of student bloggers on the blogspot. It's a matter of time before the lawyers, the medics, and - god help us all - the engineers follow suit.