Sunday, September 8, 2013

blogging - a course chore or a portal into an online community of peers?


It was really worthwhile participating in the orientation sessions for the MOOC - How to teach online. Just joining the webinars and dealing with losing the connection was in itself worthwhile. Especially enjoyed learning from the perspective of @suewaters on how to create engaging blogs (not just because she was a fellow Australian but because she was practical, realistic and inspiring). Now to put some of her wisdom into practice....

What do I know about blogs? Not much, except I pop in and read a few. I started a blog earlier in the year (http://whoisredundant.blogspot.com.au) for another online course called 'Using Social Media with learners'. I started off all keen then it dropped off pretty quickly. What did I learn? Despite the fact I said the blog was 'just for me' and 'to record my personal journey', the lack of comments did impact on my motivation. There are so many social media platforms and only so much time, the blog seemed to come last and then not at all. I need a whole new set of skills on how to manage myself in the digital information age.

During this course I look forward to the blog being like a window or portal into an online network of peers. I also like the idea of this blog spring boarding into my own e-portfolio. Both provide opportunities to 'live' beyond the course.



5 comments:

  1. Yes, Justine, I also think it's all about putting some of the things we learn on this MOOC into practice so I'm delighted that I've now created my first blog! And I also agree with what you wrote about how getting comments motivates you to continue. I'm still a bit shy about advertising myself via Twitter, blogging etc so just want to try these tools out. I also see my blog as a place to document what I learn during this MOOC http://tomooc.edublogs.org Happy blogging!

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    1. Thanks Veronica. I like your blog, it was worth the investment of time. Yes dipping your toes into social media is a bit nerve wracking. I was too scared to look at Twitter after I scored a host of new followers and even more so started following others. I felt bombarded with too much information. But some of it is such good information and opens me to wonderful new communities. This week's discovery has been Google Plus communities.

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  2. I am having a hard time choosing who to follow! With so many students and so many blogs I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.

    http://jennbernstein.edublogs.org/

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    1. I know the feeling. I'm finding it's perhaps a little early to decide who to follow and am being guided by the feeds on the community wall to follow up posts that interest, or challenge me.

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  3. Good for you, Justine, jumping into blogging again. I tend to think of my blog as my personal publishing platform. I publish articles, compilations of research, thoughts, etc onto it. That way it's "my" home.

    Then I invite other people in - through Twitter (just a quick tweet on the latest post), Facebook - another quick update, and sometimes LinkedIN (if it's a professional post). So I'm sharing my publication with my friends, fans, and followers.

    If you keep your main voice on your blog, it makes it more natural to publish more frequently.

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