I've been putting off writing this post. I'm not saying I've taken to blogging like a duck to water (some weeks I've felt like I was drowning), but I have enjoyed the whole experience and I'm sorry that my structured blogging experience has to stop.
What have I loved?
1. Playing with all the toys:- widgets, gadgets, newfeeds, tags, books, vokis, digital storytelling, wordclouds, embedding. You name it, if I managed to control it - I've loved it. It probably means I'm a control freak deep down (maybe not so deep down), but I can live with that.
2. Getting to know my classmates better. In a class, it's not possible to interact with everybody and we do tend to mix mainly with the same few people. Blogging has enabled me to read other peoples thoughts, views and ideas and to interact with them through comments.
3. Along the same vein, learning from my classmates. Thinking how long it took me to research the topic each week - to write and post my own blog, to then go to 5 (or more) other blogs and read something new, or a different perspective was a brilliant use of my time - it really showed me the value of collaborative learning. Some people are pretty quiet in class - I wish they weren't, they know so much and have really great ideas. Blogging has taught me to have great respect for my classmates.
4. Learning about how to use the technology to improve my teaching (I also think I learnt more about social constructivism and how to apply it on this course than I did in the whole of last year). Not just the toys, but normalising the technology so the pedagogy would take precedence.
5. Reflecting on my own thoughts and learning style, especially when I've then looked at another blog and found something I've thought was a brilliant way of looking at something.
Here's the downside, these are the things I didn't enjoy so much:
1. I have felt quite self-conscious, blogging did not come easily and I've found it hard to find my 'voice', I've therefore used my blog to explore and reflect on the themes of the course and to familiarise myself with the technical side of things.
2. It's really time-consuming.
I feel I have changed my views on blogging. I was quite apprehensive about it to start with and not sure what I would gain but I really feel that I have learnt so much through blogging. As a tool for reflecting on content and a medium for gaining technical skills, I have found it very successful. I will definitely try this with my students. I have already introduced a kidblog to my science students and although they have needed a lot of support, they have engaged well with it and it has been useful for recapping and providing a record of what they have learnt.
It's difficult to think what I would do differently if I were starting to blog now, as I have a whole new perspective and set of skills and I am happy with the journey that brought me here. Maybe, be not so apprehensive next time...
So, I think I might try to continue with my blogging, reflecting and playing with new technologies, even if it's just for my own benefit - but I will miss those classmates who decide not to continue.
I think it would be great for you to continue blogging, and I also think that when it is no longer structured or assessed, you may find that it becomes a lot less time-consuming! Your blog posts up until now have been about suggested topics, the same as the rest of the class is doing, and so you feel the need to put in lengthy efforts to 'hold your own' on the discussion (not to mention the little reminder voice in the back of your head that Mark will be assessing it all!). However I think now that you are effectively being given 'free reign' over your blog, you will find that you post when you have specific things you want to write about - whether it be interesting resources you stumble across, new strategies you've learnt and want to share, or simply venting about ATP stress!
ReplyDeleteIf I had to guess, I would say that your blog posts might become slightly shorter in length, will probably require a lot less research, and will be a lot less regular, because you will only post when you feel inspired!
Totally agree on the social constructivism and collaborative learning points though... every time I wrote a post and then read the blogs of others about the same topic, I was always surprised at aspects of the topic that I had totally forgotten about or not thought of at all, yet others mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point Geoff, I have only posted about suggested topics so far - but I've needed that scaffolding and it was good to have a 'topic' to explore. Blogging hasn't come naturally to me, but I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with it as a result of the course.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're right and my blogs become a bit shorter, it may surprise you to learn that I often reign myself in! Pithy comments will become my new mantra...