Virtual Book Club

I haven't fully thought this out but I think it is good enough to share for comment.

Five Shelves
Originally uploaded by splorp

Ewan McIntosh sent an email around a few people saying that he was thinking about "...a TeachMeet bookclub, just to share links about books as much as reading them." It is probably best to let Ewan say what he meant himself when he is ready, but he seems to be thinking of a shared reading list (like his del.icio.us book links). However, I thought, why not run it like a virtual book club. Someone posts a book they think we should read and then at an agreed date, once people have a chance to have read it, we all head to the original poster's blog (or wiki or whatever) and discuss the book. I've never been in a book club (virtual or otherwise) but it might be interesting.

I did some research at the BBCs Bookclub. It suggests we need about eight people and that we should allow about a month to let people read the book before meeting to discuss it. So my idea is that I choose a book, announce it here and people leave a comment agreeing to read it. In about a months time, I'll post a discussion starter here and we can ... er... discuss! Then, we choose someone else (by an as yet undecided method) and they will post the next book choice on their blog and we move the club to their blog. The only other suggestion is that the Edublogs Book Club should read suitably edublog-ish books. (I hope I haven't just stolen Ewan's idea.)

So what do you think? Anyone up for it?

As the first book to be read by the Edublogs Book Club, can I suggest Homo Zappiens: Growing Up in a Digital Age by Wim Veen and Ben Vrakking? I bought it just before the summer holidays but haven't got around to reading it yet. The blurb says, "Homo Zappiens examines how children growing up in a world of technology and change show more reluctance to fit within the education system than any generation before them. Furthermore, they frequently have a better grasp of technology than those who educate them..." I thought it sounded interesting.

So, anyone want to join me in the Edublogs Book Club?

**Update**: In a comment, Ewan has suggested that, since Charles Leadbeater is coming to the Scottish Learning Fesival this year, perhaps we should start with We Think: The Power of Mass Creativity. I don't have a problem with that. If the next person to joins agrees, or Jonsieboy gets back to say he's happy too, we could switch to Charles' book and discuss it just before SLF. Oh... and thank you to Chris and Ruby who responded too.

P.S. Whether or not you can take part, it would be great if you could spread the word about the idea through your own networks to see if we can attract in another couple of readers.

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