3 quick reasons why I blog and why I think it is an important element of my job. This is a short nano (2 minutes ish!) screencast, my second contribution to TeachMeet EdtechRoundup.
Category: Blogging
Reading My Blog Differently
Since I have moved this blog to it’s new home here at edte.ch I have noticed a significant change in the way that you, the reader, explores my content. It is all down to the scrolling banner at the top.
The banner is part of my theme Mystique and can be switched on or off in the settings. I can set it to display a random set of 5 posts from any category. I decided that I wanted to make a new category called “Featured” so I can have a range of posts appear in the banner. I needed to reorganise my categories anyway so I went through and added the category to those older posts that I consider still useful.
I immediately noticed in the blog visitor statistics the individual page loads had really increased. Here is the data from my old blog.
Although the chart range is different, here is the data from this new space.
You can see the page loads have shot up and that is all down to the simple little banner. I have always struggled with the best ways to highlight to readers older posts that are still relevant and useful, such as our Google Docs work. This certainly seems to be helping and I hope you enjoy some of the older things I have written about.
Welcome to edte.ch
Thanks for joining me here in the new home for my blog!
Over the last 3 years writing about my ideas and experiences of implementing technology in the classroom has been really important to me. The conversations and connections I have made via my blog have been fantastic and I truly value you reading, commenting and thinking about what I write.
Although this is a fresh start – I still intend to use it as a space for sounding out my ideas and sharing how I use educational technology. Here are some of things I would love for you to check out:
Pages
- Interesting Ways – a home for all of the Interesting Ways to Use series of presentations.
- Presenting – details about ways I might be able to help you or your school.
- Writing+Courses – a record of the projects keeping me out of mischief.
- Contact – track me down.
Featured Content
I hope you like the scrolling Featured Content banner at the top of the page. I have always struggled to find ways to highlight useful posts from the past. Some of the Google Docs work that is still relevant is over 2 years old. The banner displays 5 random posts from any category I set. I have set aside a “featured” category and added almost 50 blog posts I think are still useful.
Sidebar Widget
Make sure you check out the little sidebar widget goodness that helps to display the slimmed down CATEGORIES, TAGS, ARCHIVE, POPULAR POSTS and RECENT COMMENTS.
Most of all please make sure you update your RSS readers if you want to keep up with my posts.
As always I would love to hear from you – please let me know what you make of the new blog . If there is anything amiss then let me know, as Doug Belshaw says it is in “perpetual beta” and I have enjoyed the tinkering so far.
I Bought a Nit Comb
In last Sunday’s EdTechRoundup meeting I briefly invited my fellow educators to comment about whether I should move this blog to a self hosted one or to stick where I am. In this post I just want to articulate some of my thoughts about this issue for me and hopefully act as a place for further debate.
I have been using Edublogs since the Summer of 2006, when I first got going. There have been ups and down(time)s but overall I have been really happy with the simplicity of the service. Any minor issues I had were dealt with in the forums by James and his colleagues.
My blog, this space has been fantastic for me to explore ideas and to reflect on what is happening in my classroom. I see such a space as being part and parcel of what I do now. I am very, very grateful to those of you who read what I publish and leave comments – the conversation and connections here were the start of my own personal learning network or whatever term you prefer. But…
I was disappointed about how Edublogs introduced the adverts and how intrusive they are on the very words I wrote. In my opinion I also think that some of the blog and forum objections that were posted have been responded to in an aggressive manner. This made me question whether I should roll up my tent.
However Edublogs, a hosted service, has given me the opportunity to focus on writing about learning technology, the successes and failures and not to get caught up in the tinkering behind the scenes. I want that in the future. I don’t want to be lumbered with constant maintenance and endless WP/hosting issues. I just want to go to my blog and write. But then if I move that, I am told could be easily setup.
I also have the question about the momentum that has been built regarding this space. I don’t have thousands of subscribers but it seems lots of my posts have been linked to by a few people. I value all of those connections and realise that some of the material I have written has proven valuable – I don’t want to jeopardise that. But then it is only a little blog and people would find directions to my new home.
You may have noticed that I have paid for the ads to be removed. I needed to buy a nit comb and just get rid of them. I appreciate the service Edublogs provides and whilst I figure out what to do with this space I wanted it to be free from ads for me and for those who read it.
I am still undecided and would appreciate your thoughts.
I know this has been hotly debated and I am not looking for a repeat of the “Ads or Not” debate, just whether I should move or stay put?
Great Encouragement
Liz Davis and Lisa Thumann have nominated this blog in this year’s Edublog Awards in the Best Teacher Blog category.
I am absolutely thrilled to have even been considered and just the nomination alone gives me great encouragement to continue writing about my experiences with technology in my class.
I have been writing for a while now and, as I was explaining today to my teaching colleague Rick, the process of composing posts continues to help me reflect on my everyday teaching and to draw together idea threads that can all to often become frayed. The ensuing comments and conversations have always meant I continue to learn.
Looking through the list of other nominees and their respective blogs, it feels good to be in the mix with such company. It is particularly exciting to see my blog sharing the list with Ollie Bray and José Picardo whose blogs I enjoy and am inspired by.
The voting is now open and runs until the 21st December 2008 – so please pop along and support your favourite, if you would like to vote for this blog then you know I would be very grateful.