So I think I've landed on Blogger. I typed in "free blog sites" in Google as suggested and was given approximately a gazillion responses. The first "hit" was an article titled something like "The top 9 free blog sites". Alrighty. So - let's check that out. This author gave the choices of WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Medium, Ghost, Blogger, Tumblr, Joomla, and Jimdo (in that order). She wrote about the pros & cons of each platform and kept pushing WordPress as the top pick - with there being two options within that platform - .org & .com. I viewed & played with several of these and decided that given all the options and what I ultimately want to gain out of this blog assignment (a blog that can possibly morph from an assignment to something that I can continue and use successfully) that BLOGGER was the winner. It seemed simple enough and gave me just enough freedom to be challenging but not so much that I was going to get overwhelmed and dissolve into a melty puddle of frustration. And here we are. First assignment. Let's go.
WHAT IS A BLOG?
A blog (short for WEBlog) is a forum that allows the writer (or blogger!) to share thoughts, ideas, activities, etc, with as many people as are interested in finding the blog. It's in essence a very specialized website. I was trying to figure out the difference between "website" and "blog" and my very cool & knowledgably techy 70 year old father said "Well, all blogs are websites - but not all websites are blogs." There you have it. (My dad had a computer in our basement before most of my friends knew what a computer was. We had folders and folders of floppy disks with 6-10 graphic images on them that my brother and I loved to load and print out on our dot-matrix printer. I grew up wondering exactly where in the world WAS Carmen SanDiego? We knew that if we heard that terrible noise of 56K dial-up, Dad needed to check his email on Prodigy - and we better hope that no one called on our landline!) Basically, a blog is a fancy version of what Doogie Howser used to do on his computer at the end of every episode. And anyone can access it if they know where to look! It seems to me that the difference between a blog and all the other similar sites (vlog -video log, podcasts - the audio version, glog - interactive poster, discussion board - exactly as it sounds, and basic website) is that it is more of the OPINIONS and THOUGHTS of the blogger in written format - with the possible video clip or picture thrown in the mix. The purpose of a blog is to share what the creator of the blog thinks or has discovered about whatever they are blogging about at the moment. Sometimes blogs are educational and purpose driven with specific assignments and topics. Sometimes blogs are just a place for someone to put their thoughts out there (although I think probably most people use social media for this instead of putting the time into creating a blog). Most of the time though, I believe a blog is created and used by someone who has a lot to say and thinks the rest of the world deserves to "hear" (or read) it - usually on a specific subject, like cooking or crafting or books but that also delve into the bloggers personal lives giving the "followers" a sense of relationship with the blogger.
WHAT DOES A BLOG "AFFORD" THE USER?
In our last reading assignment, we learned that an "affordance" is simply what something does. It's the basic function of an item. So how does that relate to this blog tech-play assignment? Well - I think this blog is going to help me "think out loud" in a fashion. I don't want to clog up the reading discussions with my rambling - but that's the way I think best. As stated before, a blog is a type of diary where the thoughts and opinions of the blogger are being delivered to the reader/follower. A blog is a much more informal version of a written paper/essay/article. A blog will afford my personality to show a bit more through my choices of layout and color and theme, font size & type, and even the blogsite itself. I chose Blogger because - well, because it seemed easier. When I was on Wix, the site took FOREVER to load. And although I liked the Q & A format of setting up the layout, I felt like I didn't have much control over what they did with my answers - as if my profession, age, & marital status somehow dictated that I liked this theme over that theme. (There was the option to go in and tweak it to my liking - but then what's the point of taking the time to answer all those questions?!) I wanted more control than Wordpress.com was going to give but not as much responsibility as Wordpress.org. (I'm a mom, teacher, wife, & active church member - my time is precious and limited!) Blogger afforded me some personal choices that were easy to pick and set up. And imagine my surprise when I "previewed" and it said I've had this blog since 2012!! No posts or pictures or anything from then - but somehow I started this process 7 years ago. (Most likely when I set up my gmail account in an attempt to earn all kinds of income through surveys and online activities!) This is different from putting my thoughts out there on Facebook, Instagram, etc. - those are all formatted exactly the same for everyone. Your content may be different - but everyone's pages look the same. I'm also not limited to the amount of words or characters I can write. I love this part!! Like I said - I tend to "think out loud" which translates to a lot of what may be considered rambling by those who prefer to be concise. (And I can be concise when I'm told to - but that's not the way I function best!)
HOW CAN I USE THIS BLOG TO SUPPORT LEARNING?
I could use this blog (or any blog) as a reference point for the students at school. I am asked on a daily basis (hourly? every 10 minutes? every 5?) if we have any "good books"! Well - of course we do! We have thousands of them! What they're really asking is "Have you read anything you think I'd like? Do you have the newest book in XYZ series? I don't know what to look for...HELP?" Now - this may be a little advanced for our elementary students - they probably aren't going to keep up with a recommendation blog, but it IS an option for posting reviews, thoughts, & suggestions on reading material. More feasibly, it could be a place to store some lesson ideas, quizzes, book talks & trailers in a place that I PERSONALLY could pull up during class time....or even have already showing on the screen as the students come in. From a Technological standpoint, this uses our available technology and then gives the students the ability to use the iPads and our library software to search for books, answers, whether or not the book is available, and then possibly some activities relating to those books (if they've chosen the ones I recommend.) From a Pedagogical standpoint, this puts much of the responsibility on the student to look up information and stay on task. They would have ownership of their book search and choices. As far as Content goes, it is giving the student the chance to choose from and read a diverse selection of literature. If I could further their Knowledge on a specific genre of book (i.e. definition, suggestions, or examples) just by having a link or QR code embedded in the reference or review they're looking at, that would be a pretty tech-savvy thing to do AND help them learn something at the same time!
WHAT OBSTACLES MAY BE PRESENT WHEN USING THIS BLOG TO SUPPORT LEARNING?
As always, the reliablity of technology is tenuous. It's dependent on satellite waves and power sources, weather patterns and WiFi signals. If I'm planning on ONLY using this tool to support learning, I will probably fail. There will be inevitable tech issues. Also, using a tool like a Blog is assuming I will have time to keep it updated and add content on at least a weekly basis. Personal issues, technological issues, holidays, school schedules & events could keep this from happening. HOWEVER, I think that simply having a forum like a blog as an option for students to go to when it IS available is a great enough advantage, that these obstacles are not great enough to dismiss the usage of a blog outright.
IN CONCLUSION....I think that having a blog could be an extremely useful tool, provided that I have enough time to add posts and content in a timely manner.
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