Blogging
Read some blogs
Before you start blogging yourself it is very wise to get into the habit of reading some good ones out there. The style of a blog is very different from the style of, say, a newspaper or academic journal. They’re relaxed and conversational, and the reader is expected to leave comments about what they’ve read.
Interests and hobbies
They needn’t be about education, either. In fact, it might be best to find a blog on something you never seem to have time to do. Try going to Google or the blog search engine Technorati, and typing in 'Fly-fishing blog' or 'drumming blog' to see what happens.
Start with one or two blogs you really like. On every blog is a blogroll, a list of other blogs the author enjoys reading. By clicking through all these links, you’ll find other blogs on the same subject or about something completely different. As you find the ones that interest you, bookmark them on your computer or del.icio.us account.
Try some 'edublogs'
Edublogs are weblogs written by educators, often talking about their passion: technology, writing, teaching foreign language, teaching English as a second language.
We’ve put together the following 'online bookmarks' pages which cover certain themes. It's a bit like your favourites in your internet browser but on a website where you and others can always find them.
Pick an educational theme that suits you best and bookmark that page. You can then go back on a regular basis and see what is being written. You can also hone down your search using the buttons on the side of the bookmarks page, as this screenshot shows.
- Senior Management blogs
- Student Teacher blogs
- NQT Teacher blogs
- Teaching with Technology blogs
- Primary Teacher blogs
- Primary Student Teacher blogs
- Secondary Teacher blogs
- Secondary Student Teacher blogs
All Scottish educational blog writers are encouraged to add their blog to the ScotEduBlogs wiki, a web page anyone can change. If you add your own blog there it will also be placed on our online bookmarks here.
How to browse many blogs quickly
Once you are addicted to three or four blogs, it can take a little time to go and visit all the blogs each day. Even then, you might feel you are wasting your time when not every blog is updated as often as you’d hoped. It’s a good idea to start collecting the blogs you like and placing them into an online reader. Then, just like in your e-mail inbox, newly updated blogs are highlighted in bold, as this screenshot shows.
Try a blog reader
A good tool is Bloglines. It’s free and very quick to register. You add to the blogs you like to read regularly by copying your favourite blogs’ XML or RSS subscribe addresses to the list’s 'Add' function. Then, only the latest unread stories appear on the main screen.
It’s not just useful for reading blogs but for getting updates on any page that includes the opportunity to subscribe: many newspapers and media companies, including the BBC, offer the chance to subscribe to updates through their RSS or XML links.
What to do
Wherever you see the little orange buttons (pictured), right-click them (or Ctrl click on a Mac), then 'copy the location' or 'copy the address' to your Bloglines list. Make the 'My Blogs' page your home page and you’ll never miss another post again.