Blog site review
I instruct adults in the workplace and I don’t plan to use blogs in the classroom. However, I maintain a blog for my company mostly for personal reasons to explore and post ideas that are relevant to my field and interests.
I found that WordPress works best simply because I was introduced to it through UBC, there are plenty of templates available, and online courses about how to use it. It’s also a free application available from my ISP.
My first blog was created at Blogger and I liked it. Especially because I had the option to scroll randomly through other blogs. I found this an interesting way to pass the time when I had time, prior to MET ;-). I don’t think edublogs would work for me because it’s targeted for school districts.
Posted in: Week 07: Blogs
jenaca 6:09 am on October 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey Julie,
Thanks for your post! I am very new to blogging so I found this a very interesting topic for me to learn more about and share my findings with my team. I also agree that WordPress is a great blogging site, its not only easy to use but also very easy to navigate around.
Jenaca
Everton Walker 1:20 pm on October 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Julie,
Do you have any intention of using wordpress with your adult students? I think it would work magic for you. I think you could get twice the work done that you do f2f. Currently, I am able to expose my students to additional concepts and content that f2f would allow me to do. My students are currently on midterm but the class doesn’t stop. From home they are still able to participate in class activities through wordpress.
Everton
Julie S 3:33 pm on October 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Everton,
I actually started with Wikis with my students and it was very challenging for them. Maybe it would have been easier to start with a blog. I also had a discussion forum for them but that didn’t work the greatest either. They seemed too indoctrinated to their old ways (specificaly email) and were resistant to change. Now that I’ve been exploring blogs more and seeing how it’s used for this course site I might try it in the future. I had a website setup where I posted all the content but it was actualy a lot of work to do the formatting of the web pages. A blog may have been the better format actually. I’m also restrained by the company technology policy. In this case they didn’t have a blogsite and they do not allow company information to be posted anywhere externally.
Glad to hear that your work with blogs is successful. It’s encouraging.
Thanks,
Julie
Juliana 4:42 pm on October 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Julie,
Thanks for your comments and your post. You bring a unique perspective as you are looking at training in a workplace environment. You mentioned that your students weren’t receptive to a wiki. If you were to use a blog in a workplace teaching environment, what features of a blog would encourage their engagement? Do you think you would use blogger or WordPress?
Also, if you had used blogging in your course, do you think it would have added to the learning experience? How would you have used blogging in your course?
Juliana.
Julie S 10:41 pm on October 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Juliana,
I would use WordPress over Blogger because I find it more professional. I think that if I used the Blog it would have been easier than the static web pages to design – the format is built into the templates. It also could have enhanced the experience because it’s interactive so the students could have posted comments on the weekly educational material. I think this would have been most beneficial for the regional participants where there was a bigger time difference. I think I would have done away with the discussion forum because I could get the same effect by having them engage in the discussions using the reply form like this. The biggest hold back would be whether or not the corporation had a blogging application setup. I think its unlikely that a corporation will let their employees go offsite to engage in discussions about internal business issues.
Deb Kim 8:52 pm on October 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Julie,
Thank you for sharing your experience. Just like you, I also like WordPress.
Its Dashboard is easy to use and there are lots of features that I like, including the Custom Menu.
I was also surprised to see that even my students (secondary level) are indoctrinated to their old ways. I created a Q&A section for them so that they can leave their questions there for me to answer, but they still prefer emails. If WordPress had an email function, then it’d be easier for my students to send me an email directly from the blog. That’s the part that’s missing from WP.
After your experience using the ETEC 522 blog, do you think your students would like the use of blogging if there is an email function?
Deb
Julie S 10:45 pm on October 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Deb,
I think the email function would definately help. I had the students requesting email functions with the Sharepoint site. It was huge but I suspect it’s a crutch and I would really like the students to progress with the new tools. It’s a challenge though. Change takes time.
I like the custom menus too but I found out when we did our team assignment for gaming that not all WordPress blogs have this functionality. It made me go exploring a little more with the different templates. I wish I had more time for explorations!
Deb Giesbrecht 5:56 pm on October 21, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
It’s funny that you should mention WordPress. I have not used it very much and have not explored the arena of Blogs like others, but I did notice that WordPress tends to appear a bit more professional and laid out than others. As well, the functionality appears to be a bit better. A note to self next time I need a Blog!