So you want your students to blog do you? Here's some recommendations on how to make that happen.
How to Get the Buggers to Blog:
Give yourself time to prepare and plan.
Get some support. At Calderdale there's myself and Paulw.
Have a look at blogs that work. Here's one: http://worthingpateam.blogspot.co.uk/
Create your first blog:
- Pick a platform and sign up for an account. Top two options are:
- blogger.com - Probably the easiest. It's run by Google. If you already have a google account so much the better
- wordpress.com - The worlds most popular but requires a bit more technical know how.
- Make a throwaway blog for practice. Call it anything, doesn't matter at this stage. Write up a couple of blog posts about anything...cats maybe.
- It's important to know what the point of your blog is. Using the example of http://worthingpateam.blogspot.co.uk/ again, reproducing the sort of content you'd put on a VLE (like Moodle for example) is a good start.
- Choose your the name wisely, you'll be stuck with it.
- Create content
- Brief them at the start of the year. Many of them will need to take a run up at it. If you spring it on them and expect them to hit the ground running it's likely to fail.
- Guide them through the signing up process.
This is the 5th time blogging has reared it's head for me in the college and the something like the 8th time in total. The only real success I've had enabling others to blog was with my sister and her rounders blog, which has been running since 2007. Go Sis!
So why the many failures? There's just one reason that I can see and it's motivation or lack thereof. (Not mine, I hasten to add.)
Blogging requires motivation. Motivation to set up a blog in the first place and motivation to use the thing. If blogging/writing/publishing is a pleasure for you then there's your motivation right there, otherwise it's work, just one more thing to do on your ever increasing list of jobs. It maybe more fun than marking yet another essay on "reflective practice" or learning how to use yet another official online database (yaood) you can't see the value of but it's work never the less.
"But that's fine, I can update the yaood while my students can get on with their blogs!" you say and go on to add "In fact I might have more time for the yaood as my students will be kept busy."
Here's the thing....if you want your students to blog you are going to have to lead by example, whether that example includes writing up actual blog posts or becoming familiar enough with the blogging platform itself so you can act as admin and technical support when the inevitable problems arise. And arise they will because writing a blog is work, work with an online technical twist to it and many of your students don't want more work to do and many students use "I'm not very good with computers." as a way to get out of the extra online work you're trying to sell to them.
I've just read that back to myself and I do sound quite negative about the whole thing don't I? I don't mean to. You want your students to blog, I'm behind you all the way and will provide as much support, goundwork and "can do" attitude as I can but realistically there's only so much I can make happen for you. You are going to have to roll up your sleeves and take a run up at it with me.
