Blogging, mmm, my mind is still not made up. I can see the advantages especially in education but personally I have found the process at times embarrassing. Here is a brief summary of my opinion on the subject!
Advantages of blogging.
•I think blogging is an engaging tool to get students to reflect on learning they have done. It allows for peer interaction which gives an extra dimension to the traditional journal.
•Mandatory blogging throughout the course has made me reflect on the weekly lectures, this has been beneficial as otherwise I would have gone home and forgot about the information told. The blog has been a platform to demonstrate that I have tested out many of the technologies we discussed in class.
•Through posting information on the blog I have acquired new skills such as; using hyperlinks, embedding videos and adding widgets.
•Constantly being exposed to technology has ingrained the notion that I will use it in education. My want to integrate technology into my teaching pedagogy has increased each week.
Disadvantages to blogging
•I have not enjoyed publicly posting my opinions on the web. I am not overly interested in reading what I have written so I can only think how painful it is for other people!
•I have not really engaged with reading other peoples blogs. At best I have skimmed read them until I found a point I might be able to comment on. If this was not an essential part of the assessment I doubt I would have reviewed other people’s blogs.
•I live at a school, work for a school and go to uni to talk further about schools. Blogging about technology in education in a really serious manner is something I could not bring myself to do. I think that is what formal assignments are for, which unfortunately I did not see this as.
Final thoughts
Ideally I would have used this blog as a tool for the future, to store links and ideas we discussed in class. From the outset I have been against the public display of my opinions and have stuck by my initial thought of shutting down the blog when the course is over. However, I can now see myself adapting the blog keeping all my embedded resources and links to other blogs but removing my own thoughts. My desire to remove my thoughts is due to my lack of passion and experience on the subject at present. I have not had my own class and experimented with these products on students therefore feel my opinions on the subject are ignorant. I don't want to publicise this.
Blogging, I feel has been a worthwhile experience and a great assessment task. I have felt uncomfortable posting some of my blogs but hey life is not meant to be easy all the time. I have learnt a great deal from blogging through; reflection, experimenting and contemplating. It may appear at times that I have not taken the task seriously through my comments, but I hope it is evident that I have engaged with many of the technologies discussed in class.
Note - I was going to beef up my blog embedding useful links to websites that I have found but I already know these sites and if there is a future for my blog it is likely to be for personal use. Therefore I don’t see the point as I have already demonstrated that I have the ability to embed links etc.
Univeristy students please feel free to contact me via e-mail/facebook if you would like to experience more of my wisdom. Alternatively I may allow you to follow my private blog if you are really lucky!
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Hi Ross
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading your blog and identify with alot of what you are saying. You have a way of saying things very honsestly with a great sense of humour.
All the best!
I agree with your points entirely. It has been a good experience to be exposed, but there has been a certain amount of verbal-how-shall-we-put-it? that has been posted on all our blogs, which perhaps doesn't highlight our depth nor motivate further readings...I have at times found the commenting on other's blogs forceful and not very inspiring.
ReplyDeleteIt is a different way of interacting, one that I don't really find more beneficial than the face-to-face alternative.
It is interesting though how sometimes after reading a few blogs you loose track of whose it is that you are reading, and then their voice suddenly comes through and you know whose it is. Your blog is one of those, where you can almost hear the posting. Does that make you a really boring individual if your blogs are plain? Or is it the few times when the voice comes through that makes the postings less boring? Perhaps maintaining the voice by speaking from ones heart - even on forced subjects - ensures more connection to any reader. One would hope.
Yes, I feel as though blogging is great in some respects, but does have its downside. Personally, the great aspects for me are being able to embed links to useful website. It is handy having a place to organise your resources, but this can also be done on a wiki. I also enjoy embedding visuals, such as photographs, vokis and videos. However, these once again can be embedded on a wiki.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though my comments are truly just my feelings, rather than any grounded comments. Perhaps I should have been relating my insights with research more throughout the course. However, my style was to send out my opinion and see what responses came back! If I were to create a blog in class, it would have to have a very particular focus and be a meeting ground for useful resources, tutorials, videos, people and opinions.
I'm not really sure that I had a style. Some weeks I just wanted something posted, other weeks I would give my posting more thought. I suppose this was down to how bored I was.
ReplyDeleteI feel quite uncomfortable thinking about the concept of a 'web presence' and that everything I say online is available for public viewing. I didn't exactly try to use research to back up my thoughts. Opinions based on personal experience & the person's own voice are more interesting to read anyway. I've also considered removing my blog once this is over, mainly because I think it's unlikely that I will keep it updated. I think when I'm teaching I'll actually be too busy to spend my time posting on a blog.
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