Blogs

=Blogging Discussion= from NIFL Professional Development List, July 12 - Aug. 6, 2010

Our discussion took place mainly via Comments on our [|main blog], although we also had some email exchanges.

Blogs created for this discussion:

 * [|Literacy for All] (Laura)
 * [|Women in School] (Laura)
 * [|PA Distance Learning Project] (Staci)
 * [|CASAS Connection] (Andrea)
 * [|Florida TechNet] (Deb)
 * [|Write-Think-Learn] (Bonnie)
 * [|Teaching & Learning] (Susan)

Blogs that some members already had going:

 * [|WE LEARN Conference] (Mev)
 * [|Global Literacy], ProLiteracy (Alesha)
 * [|Adult Education & Technology] (Marian)

Other blogs that we thought were good examples:
 * [|AlphaPlus] Blog

Some comments from group members:
> > I hope to see the blog continue. If not this one, then perhaps for students in or case managers who refer to our WorkSkills program, or possibly for PD. I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas from looking at what other folks are doing, and I can see this going places, if I can figure out where it fits into the “big picture” with our program. (Staci, PA) > > A big advantage to the blog is the blog roll and links that can be created. Instead of going back and forth to my bookmarks I could set the blog roll to include an area of related interest and easily check on each site, especially with rss notification of new info. > > This is a great tool to add to our class discussion board. I see it as an opportunity to take discussion forum type questions and expand and explore related areas of interest for my classmates and myself. How's this, we twitter to each other new information we discover and then develop and explore this on the blog. Even without instructor direction, we do tend to establish our own small groups for additional research and work. I am a lifelong learner, energized by searching for accurate and cutting edge information, in addition to turning everything into a creative opportunity. Fortunately, I know others like myself. That makes me happy. (Laura)
 * I joined this group because I wanted to explore. I've concluded that there are a lot of possibilities, but I'm not yet sure how I will use blogging in my work. Since I enjoy writing, I've discovered that blogging is fun and not technically difficult. (Susan Finn-Miller, PA)
 * This group has given me the motivation to finally start the blog I’ve been planning to start for months! I’m not sure what will happen with this particular blog, though. Because I work for a distance program, we are already heavily entrenched in Google Docs, Google Sites, our online Book Club at freeforums.org, a webinar library, etc. We want to ensure that we are not using technology just for the sake of using it. My program is meeting in a few weeks to figure out how we can put all of the apps we already have into one site for students to access.
 * Learning to set up and customize a blog has been fairly easy for me. The hardest part is finding the time to post credible information on a regular basis. This is where I am considering crossing over to twittering and catching information from there and applying it to my blog. Another consideration is establishing a network and creatively working on that process, takes time.
 * I did it! Started my very own blog. Very scary, very exciting, very creative (potentially). (Bonnie, MA)
 * I am interested in starting a blog for our program. I'd like to use it as a place to post information for students, as well as extra fun or interesting activities that they could use to enhance their learning. (Staci, PA)
 * I have tried several blogs over the years. My philosophy is that I learn from each one and just keep trying. (Laura)