Cart Before the Horse or Opportunity to Grow

I have been reading Blogging for Dummies which has made me decide that my blogging history is a bit "cart before the horse". I started blogging and then read the book. It should really have been the other way round. Or should it? To be honest I think I have done it the right way round. If I had never written a blog before or used the blogger.com site I don't think I would have got so much out of the book. Knowing the basics has provided the foundations on which I can build and develop my blog. Also I think that looking at the screen captures of outstanding blogs provided in the book may have put me off starting. My initial feeling would have been, I can never do this. However, as I have already started my blog, reading the book has made me excited about finding out how I can develop my blog. To any of my students reading this, starting a blog is simple, don't be put off by the seemingly perfect blogs out there, you can develop things later as you grow more confident.

Advice is, to update my blog frequently, which got me thinking about what frequently means. To some people, using twitter for example, this means every few minutes. To others it can mean daily, and to others once a week or two or three times a week. I think it is important to make sure that I have something to say. Posting several times a day could become repetitive and boring, however it could be relevant and timely when undertaking a specific project or attending a conference. The frequency could change depending on the situation.

I have found out about simple things like adding links using the add link button on the toolbar. This is the small picture of a globe with a chain link above it which allows me to add a link such as this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogging As I say simple things but it is small steps such as this which will allow me to develop my Blog and make it more powerful and meaningful.

So I will continue to grow and develop my blog with this particular book helping me. It is no use reading the book without putting what I learn into practice so I intend to do this over the next few posts. I am enjoying the journey and enjoying my exploration through technology and learning.

Musings of a Blogging Newbie

As a fan of all things technological (ok fan might be a bit weak to describe my passion for technology), the only thing which seemed to be missing from my repertoire was blogging. I always felt that maybe this was taking things a bit too far, but inspired by a workshop I attended with Steve Wheeler yesterday, and my quest for using technology in all ways possible to support learning, here I am. This is something which fascinates me, and as a lecturer in both health care and teacher training, I want to use it to support the best learning possible for my students. What better way than to use it myself, whilst I am learning. But lets take this a step further. It is not just technology which can make us better learners or helps our students to learn, but every aspect of life itself. Every experience should fill us with a curiosity which makes us want to know more, to find out more, to explore further and to see the wonder of the experience in every way. This blog will explore my experiences and how each one of them can help me to support my students learning. Yes technology will be in there, how can it not when I'm a technophile, but so will many other things. Follow me and see what surprises may fall out of what I am doing, and what we can all learn along the way.