Week 3: Blogging for Personal Learning

[Tony Karrer]

For learning professionals, maintaining a blog can be a powerful professional development tool. Regular blogging encourages reflective practice--you're more likely to actively engage with what you're reading and experiencing as fodder for blog posts, which increases your own understanding and improves your thinking on what you're learning. A blog can also be the backbone of your professional online presence, serving as an online portfolio and a home for interaction with other bloggers.

 

Learning is essentially a cycle of action and reflection and your blog provides a forum for the reflective portion of your learning. As you read and engage in various on and off-line experiences, you can use your blog to think through what's happening, impacts, potential problems or changes you want to make, etc. You could do this reflection in an off-line professional development journal, of course, but in doing so, you miss another important component of learning--the social aspect. By using your blog for these reflections, you open your thinking up to questions and alternative ideas from other bloggers. They may comment on blog posts to provide you with additional resources or make suggestions about how you could handle an issue you're facing. They may question some aspects of your thinking so that you're forced to better articulate what you're learning or possibly even change your thought processes.

 

While there's much to be gained from the reflective process of blogging, this learning is turbo-charged as a result of the interactions you have with commenters and other bloggers online. The social aspect fuels your individual learning.

 

 

How have you used blogs for your own personal learning and professional development? What challenges have you faced? What benefits have you experienced? Use this forum to share stories, ideas, etc. on using blogs for personal learning and professional development. Put links to your blog posts here.  Try out some of the activities listed below and then blog about them, either on your own blog or on the blog that is part of your personal profile in this Work Literacy community.

 

On the Benefits of Blogging for Personal Learning and Development

 

Should All Learning Professionals Be Blogging

 

More on Learning Through Blogging: What Readers Think

 

Blogs as Personal Learning Networks

 

Exercises and Activities to Use in Blogging for Personal Learning and Professional Development

 

Becoming a More Reflective Practitioner

 

The Importance of Questioning Your Work--Respond to one or more of these questions for any project you're working on.

 

Professional Development Practice: The One Sentence Journal--an exercise to try on your blog.

 

Debriefing Yourself--another personal learning exercise you can use for blogging

 

Sacha Chua's Blog--an example of someone using their blog for personal lifelong learning

[Charlie Bluglass]

I have recently started two blogs: one created within UKyouthonline for sharing practice on using social media in Youth Work, which is
http://ukyouthonline.ning.com/profile/CharlieBluglass

I have had some feedback from other youth workers on an online survey for young people which I created, and this has helped me think about why I chose a survey rather than another format (such as a blog).

I think that the fact that you can get fresh perspectives on your work from your community of practice is really valuable and can sharpen up your thinking.

I have also created a blog to create dialogue with the young people with whom I work. Specifically, to create dialogue about the work within the new Children's Centre (Carnforth Hub) which is a new build which ourselves, and Early Years (Surestart) are about to move into and share.

I am looking forward to seeing how using Blogs to develop critical thinking in young people via dialogue with them (about their groups, creative art work etc ) is different from face to face contact.
http://carnforthyps.wordpress.com/
I would hope that the positives might be that some of my responses might be more considered and effective, because I might have some time for reflection!

[Melanie Jennings]

This topic is a real eye-opener for me. To date, I have been essentially a consumer of blogs, not a producer. Sure, I have had a blog, but it has simply been a place for me to provide follow-up information for my face to face professional development sessions (handouts, link lists, presentations, etc.).

I didn't feel that I had something to say that would be of value to the larger world, that there was really no reason for me to blog. And in fact, by doing so, I would just be adding clutter to the already overly cluttered web! I saw blogging as something that should be done if you had an area of expertise from which others could benefit. After all, those are the types of blogs that I read - How to's - tech tips, ed tech integration, and even parenting or crafting!

I suppose I have always seen blogging as writing for an audience. I'm not a writer, nor do I enjoy writing as an exercise. However, I am beginning to consider the very act of blogging as a part of the learning process. My blog can be an extension of my "think time" when internalizing a new concept or finding new ways to apply existing knowledge. Thank you for bringing this to my attention!

Melanie

[florence beraud]

I am a learning specialist and up to now, my field of experience has mostly been restricted to face to face training situations. Lately I have been actively engaged in learning more about distance learning, mostly with web 2.0. All this to say that I am new to the notion of blogging for professional reasons and that I finally decided to take the step and I created my first blog yesterday.

So, why did I finally decided to be an active part of the blogosphere?
After several weeks of consulting blogs, web sites, reading articles, talking with peers I realised I badly needed a space that I I can firstly use as a central recipient for the information I find and secondly and where I can organise my reflection. Blog seems the right tool for that. Up to now, I don't feel I have the confidence or the need to share this information so I have decided to keep it private and this has helped me take the first step of creating a blog. I will try to follow the advice to add short but regular comments to my blog and to make it a new tool for my work. As a trainer, I know that adopting new habits is always a complexe process, but I realise I have taken the first and most important one.

Finally, I also know that active learning requires self reflection, confrontation of new knowledge or ideas with previous or peer experience and again my blog should be a primary space for that kind of exercise.

Looking forward to understand how other participants use or perceive blogs.
Florence

[Michele Martin]

Charlie, I so agree that reflection can be a critical part of the learning process! Are you going to engaging the young people you're working with in setting up their own blogs? Would love to hear more about that in the forum on using blogs for formal learning.

Charlie Bluglass said:

I have recently started two blogs: one created within UKyouthonline for sharing practice on using social media in Youth Work, which is
http://ukyouthonline.ning.com/profile/CharlieBluglass

I have had some feedback from other youth workers on an online survey for young people which I created, and this has helped me think about why I chose a survey rather than another format (such as a blog).

I think that the fact that you can get fresh perspectives on your work from your community of practice is really valuable and can sharpen up your thinking.

I have also created a blog to create dialogue with the young people with whom I work. Specifically, to create dialogue about the work within the new Children's Centre (Carnforth Hub) which is a new build which ourselves, and Early Years (Surestart) are about to move into and share.

I am looking forward to seeing how using Blogs to develop critical thinking in young people via dialogue with them (about their groups, creative art work etc ) is different from face to face contact.
http://carnforthyps.wordpress.com/
I would hope that the positives might be that some of my responses might be more considered and effective, because I might have some time for reflection!

[Michele Martin]

Melanie, I agree 100% that our blog can be a great way to extend your thinking time. What I've found is that the act of blogging actually makes me pay more attention to what I'm doing and reading about and really encourages me to reflect on what I'm experiencing. It's always nice if other people want to read and comment, but if nothing else, it's a way for me to get my own thoughts in order on what I'm learning. Without that outlet, I can find that I lose track of things and don't get the full benefit of what I'm doing.

Melanie Jennings said:

This topic is a real eye-opener for me. To date, I have been essentially a consumer of blogs, not a producer. Sure, I have had a blog, but it has simply been a place for me to provide follow-up information for my face to face professional development sessions (handouts, link lists, presentations, etc.).

I didn't feel that I had something to say that would be of value to the larger world, that there was really no reason for me to blog. And in fact, by doing so, I would just be adding clutter to the already overly cluttered web! I saw blogging as something that should be done if you had an area of expertise from which others could benefit. After all, those are the types of blogs that I read - How to's - tech tips, ed tech integration, and even parenting or crafting!

I suppose I have always seen blogging as writing for an audience. I'm not a writer, nor do I enjoy writing as an exercise. However, I am beginning to consider the very act of blogging as a part of the learning process. My blog can be an extension of my "think time" when internalizing a new concept or finding new ways to apply existing knowledge. Thank you for bringing this to my attention!

Melanie

[Michele Martin]

Florence, first of all, congratulations on starting up your new blog--great decision!

In your comment, you've hit on two of the key reasons to maintain your own blog--having a central repository for your own information and a place to process what you're learning. My blog has become my back-up brain--it's the place I know I can find most things I'm thinking about and working on, especially since I installed a Google custom search toolbar that lets me search my site for whatever I need.

Although I completely understand your desire to keep your blog private for now, I'd encourage you to consider later the idea of making it more public. I've found that I learn a tremendous amount by exposing my thinking and ideas to other people who can ask me questions, make suggestions and challenge my thought processes. I definitely think that the social aspect of blogging is a key part of what makes it so valuable for me as a learning tool.

florence beraud said:

I am a learning specialist and up to now, my field of experience has mostly been restricted to face to face training situations. Lately I have been actively engaged in learning more about distance learning, mostly with web 2.0. All this to say that I am new to the notion of blogging for professional reasons and that I finally decided to take the step and I created my first blog yesterday.
So, why did I finally decided to be an active part of the blogosphere? After several weeks of consulting blogs, web sites, reading articles, talking with peers I realised I badly needed a space that I I can firstly use as a central recipient for the information I find and secondly and where I can organise my reflection. Blog seems the right tool for that. Up to now, I don't feel I have the confidence or the need to share this information so I have decided to keep it private and this has helped me take the first step of creating a blog. I will try to follow the advice to add short but regular comments to my blog and to make it a new tool for my work. As a trainer, I know that adopting new habits is always a complexe process, but I realise I have taken the first and most important one.

Finally, I also know that active learning requires self reflection, confrontation of new knowledge or ideas with previous or peer experience and again my blog should be a primary space for that kind of exercise.

Looking forward to understand how other participants use or perceive blogs.
Florence

[Tony Karrer]

Extremely well said - I hope you will try it out.

Melanie Jennings said:

This topic is a real eye-opener for me. To date, I have been essentially a consumer of blogs, not a producer. Sure, I have had a blog, but it has simply been a place for me to provide follow-up information for my face to face professional development sessions (handouts, link lists, presentations, etc.).

I didn't feel that I had something to say that would be of value to the larger world, that there was really no reason for me to blog. And in fact, by doing so, I would just be adding clutter to the already overly cluttered web! I saw blogging as something that should be done if you had an area of expertise from which others could benefit. After all, those are the types of blogs that I read - How to's - tech tips, ed tech integration, and even parenting or crafting!

I suppose I have always seen blogging as writing for an audience. I'm not a writer, nor do I enjoy writing as an exercise. However, I am beginning to consider the very act of blogging as a part of the learning process. My blog can be an extension of my "think time" when internalizing a new concept or finding new ways to apply existing knowledge. Thank you for bringing this to my attention!

Melanie

[Vineetha]

I have been on Blogger for some time now. I first set up a personal blog to write about anything under the sun, which included some fiction I wrote ages ago. Then, I came across several interesting blogs related to e-learning and instructional design, which inspired me to start my own about these.

Although I have had a blog set up for learning and sharing my e-learning experiences and reflections for some time now, I don’t post often. The main reason being lack of time. On most days, I’m lucky if I can find time to read through the blog feeds in my Google Reader. I contribute to my blogs in fits and starts, and you can generally assume that if I’m posting to my blog, I’m relatively free at work. So, the main challenge for me is to make the time at least every week if not daily to update my blogs.

I generally respond to questions like the LCB questions of the month or some other posts that pique my interest. What I find most interesting about the entire blogging experience is that it really helps you crystallize your thoughts into something more concrete. Sometimes, when I start writing I have a certain viewpoint about a certain topic, and then as I try to deconstruct my thoughts, I start seeing aspects I had not really thought of before. That for me is a very powerful aspect of blogging. It helps me connect my thoughts and ideas to each other and enriches my personal learning.

http://learning-e-learning.blogspot.com/

[Harold Jarche]

I find that my blog is a key component of personally managing my knowledge and that the act of blogging forces me to move from implicit ideas to explicit descriptions of these ideas. The discipline of blogging hones my thoughts and helps me to learn, while exposing these thoughts to others makes it more social, and human. I still believe that the blog is the most powerful social media tool available.

[Duncan Greenhill]

I've had a blog for about two years now, but with only about 10-15 posts in that time. Part of the problem for me, I think, is viewing the process as more publishing and less journal. So the posts are more finished articles than explorations of thought processes, or work in progress. The other problem, is of course, the time required to actually write in the first place. What do others think?

[Michele Martin]

Duncan, Amy Gahran wrote a blog post a while back on "how to blog without the time sink" that gets at both of your points. Her suggestion is to use your blog to capture key aspects of your work process and resources so that it becomes your back-up brain. That article was really a great one for me to push myself on changing my blogging habits so that I stopped seeing my blog as a series of finished products and started seeing it as a work in progress.

Duncan Greenhill said:

I've had a blog for about two years now, but with only about 10-15 posts in that time. Part of the problem for me, I think, is viewing the process as more publishing and less journal. So the posts are more finished articles than explorations of thought processes, or work in progress. The other problem, is of course, the time required to actually write in the first place. What do others think?

[Lee Kraus]

Tony,

I have been blogging for a long time, but I haven't REALLY focused my blogging efforts. I haven't always felt comfortable in my professional settings to blog about everything that is happening with my projects. So I mostly focused on "safe" issues and new technologies which I am very passionate about. I don't have a strong inter-filter with my blogging, so I often get frustrated by the amount of time it takes me to write and review the post to make sure that it was not telling too much or sharing too much.

But, having said that I can tell you that it is extremely useful tool for capturing ideas and information and having a resource to go back to and review from time to time. I don't do it often, but when I do it is very helpful.

I strongly encourage everyone to blog and I would encourage mangers and team leaders to be open to allowing a personal voice to come through in your groups blogs. If you are worried about it, have an open group discussion about the guidelines and acceptable levels. Get everyone to take some ownership of your guidelines and I think your true organizational culture will emerge through the blogs.

Great topic!