Blogging

Description:

Setting up my blog.

I've spent much of the last two weeks learning about then setting up my own blog. I had a little bit of a look at other blogger sites available but http://www.blogger.com/ was so self explanatory and simple to use I looked no further as time is limited.

I started my blog as a diary style log on an 'MS Word' doc separate from the work sheet mentioned in earlier postings in this blog.
At the end of each study session I logged everything I'd experienced into this word doc. To give the entries some form and order, I adapted some guide questions I found on a site posted on the unit DB by another NET11 student (Wayne) http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/cesagh/documents/LEARNINGLOG.doc.
Once I was confidant enough to post them, I cut/paste them into my blog. I used this "cut/pate-into-blog-from-log" exercise as an opportunity to overview the module. I combined my log notes and work sheet with any additional info I gained while over viewing the module material to make my final blog entries.

Concerns

Firstly, I felt very unsure about what to post. Secondly, I was uncertain about how to present the blog...what sort of 'style' to use and how much time to devote to developing a presentation style. Then I started worrying about sounding stupid, investing too little or too much time on my blog, how it would compare to others and how it would rate in the assessment.

Once I actually posted my first entry, I was relieved, tired and kinda pleased with myself. I've spent a bit of time on it and looked at other students blogs (I did this by posting "can I see your blog??" on the DB and got excellent responses. It seems most students are happy to share their bloggin' experience) I think my blog is shaping up nicely (for an advanced newbie). I had loads of crazy fun developing, contributing and prettying up (and down) my blog so far.

My overall concern was not publishing a "good blog".
Problem:
1. The first was not knowing when to commit my notes to the blog. I used my word doc. log daily and seemed unable to take the first step in posting it! I also worried about the dates I published my blog entries and the dates the work was done not correlating.
2. I hit a hiccup too by not posting actual uni related material I found it hard to start doing that "seamlessly" so it looked like a learning log not just a big mess with unrelated postings everywhere.
3. I had some major issues with changing the fonts, colours, templates etc. Once I started it changing background colours, font colours needed changing then the spacing went all wonky (I still have a spacing issue-that's why I'm not using bullets & numbering manually-that's where the spacing problems started).
Solution:
1. I decided to post something, anything, to get me started. Once I did that it got my groove flowing :) I finally chose to put a link to my NET11-learning-log-blog onto my initial blog. I may change this still. Once I started cutting and pasting from my word doc and editing it with other material, a system developed allowing me some structure in how to create my learning log blog. 2.In regards to the dates not correlating, like with so many things I worry about, it wasn't a problem once I actually did it. I put the date the work was done in the post heading. *I later changed this because I realised the dates I published posts was not important.
3. I plan to keep the look of the blog very simple. It's so tempting to make the blog reflective of my own character. I chose colours I like for the fonts and that's about it. I may change this as my skills increase.

Evaluation

Of all the task work in this unit, this task, by far was an absolute blast. I enjoyed every lil' bit of it...even the frustration. It's delivers instant gratification-I could see the blog develop into something really useful for me the more I learned. The communication between students was very important for me in this task. Many students shared their blogs with me. This helped me enormously to get an idea of what a blog is and the different ways ppl experience learning.

Analysis

Overall, it's pretty safe to say, I have learned to blog and look forward to increasing my skills to one day post a rockin' advanced blog with pix and everything!!! This task gave me knowledge in so many different areas;
The most important thing I learned is that a "good" learning log is a log that helps me in my learning process; a record of my lessons, challenges, solutions and key points. If it means something to me, is clear and easy to understand I've done ok.

Things I've learned about Bloggin':

• Some of the best blogs came from ppl who had little experience in blogging.
• Once I started logging how and what I'd learned in a way that was useful to me many of my concerns about my blog being a "good one" disappeared..
• So many things I worry about are not as bad as I think they will be once I start them.
• Trying to complete my entry when I'm tired just creates more errors and takes longer

I also learned some cool little things that go into blog creation as I went along like html editing (still not crystal clear on that one but getting there) and adding links and pix. Simple stuff but 2 weeks ago it was worlds away. For example, I always assumed blog entries were like tattoo's once they're on, they stay as they are. False! This is makes my "word.doc' journal idea kinda redundant.

Conclusion

If I had to do it again, I'd use the blog as the journal and edit as I go along rather than my 'word.doc' journal. It seems quicker. I think I was too vulnerable in the beginning to expose my ruminations via blog but from now on I'm ditching the 'word doc." journal and going straight to blog. The older I get, the more I think 'privacy' is over used. I can respect the idea of being transparent and having nothing to hide. If I know ppl are going to potentially read my blog entries rather than keeping them to myself in a word doc, I try harder. If I make a mistake, it's more likely to get spotted & if I'm lucky commented on in a blog. If I do something silly that makes ppl laugh, I've contributed to the world of comedy! It's win/win all round :))

I know the 'top tips for new bloggers' is a little premature but I'm on the subject and it's all nice and fresh so I'll post it now.. It's definitely subject to change:

Top 5 tips for new bloggers

1. Keep It Simple
Find a blog site that provides clear, simple instructions on how to create a blog. You can always go for the more advanced sites later.

2. Information Gathering
Look at as many blogs as you can making notes of what you like about them and what you don’t so you can refer to this when you create your own.
Talk to people about their blogging experience and note any good sites/blogs they recommend.
Don’t feel silly asking for help and advice. It’s ok to be temporarily technically challenged.
* (I would get rid of this #2 and replace it with "know your audience")

2. Know your audience Now that you have some ideas of what kind of blog you would like to create, gather information on your readers. Know your audience. You have a limited time to grab (and hopefully hold) their attention so know who your readers are and prepare the blog for their enjoyment as well as your own - other wise, you're just writing to yourself. That's for diaries, not blog's.

3. Preparation
Plan your site: There is so much you can do with a blog that it's easy to get side tracked and get off-topic. This makes for a messy blog. Have a plan of what you want your blog to be, what sort of message it will send to it's readers. Choose a purpose or topic. Decide what sort of over-all look you want to achieve. This way you have a focus point to refer back to if you stray too far from the blogs original plan. * Will your blog be text only? Will you include images? Do you have the legal right to use those images? Is there any other possible copyright infringement in your content?

4. Explore Dont be afraid to click on and look into all the tools the blog offers. If you do this before you make enter alot of posts, you have less to loose if you make a mistake. * It may be useful to get a basic knowledge of html as some blog sites allow you more creative control if you know how to edit html.

5. Write well
Be aware of how you write *and who you're writing for. To write well is to use an economy of effective words to achieve the desired result. Reading well written material is a pleasure. Reading poorly written work is aggravating and tiring. * Well written material is spelled correctly, written simply but effectively and comes in small, easy to digest chunks.* Alot of readers will skim through your entries. It's useful to learn the basics of writing well to help you keep the readers interest and help express your self clearly. Keeping it simple is a good rule to follow.
Don’t post personal details about you or others.

*Additions after completing the unit are in red.