How I Blog

This overview of my blogging habits comes courtesy of Miguel Guhlin and Wes Fryer, via Brian Grenier who's using the tag-a-blogger system to find out more about the actual writing process.

It's an interesting meme and one that I'd unwittingly covered before in a post last year, A Request For My Learning Network. I was planning a presentation on Blogging For Professional Learning and wanted to broaden my suggestions for how an educator could fit blogging into their life. The responses I received back were fantastic and so you could say that I've already reverse-tagged Stephen Downes, Roger Stack, Leigh Blackall, Mike Seyfang, Jo McLeay, Dean Shareski, Doug Noon, Mark Ahlness and Dave. But I didn't really detail my own processes at that time, so here goes.

I think that my blogging is fairly haphazard and opportunistic. I tend to start a lot of my posts on my Pocket PC, then sync to the laptop and finish it off in the WordPress writing editor. I add in any relevant links, upload any of my own graphics or use FlickrCC for an appropriate image. Then if I'm happy, I hit Post - but I'll always go to my actual blog to check for typos or formatting errors. I grab bits of time whenever the opportunity presents. My oldest son's fortnightly swimming lessons are a thirty minute window of opportunity. I'm writing this sentence now in a few minutes before helping to organise the evening meal. Oops, gotta go...

Back again ... now where was I? So, unless I have a long enough slab of time to type up a post at the computer, then I make starts on my Pocket PC. I might have one or two started posts on Pocket Word (yes, I know, proprietary software) - not usually any more than that because I can't develop the ideas in each one properly. I keep some ideas in my head on the premise that if they aren't memorable enough to stick, then they weren't worth blogging about anyway. My ideas come from all over the place - and just like me, they are not well organised or consistent. Sometimes it's something I read that triggers a thought or an experience from work that is worth reflecting on. I'll only pass on new resources or applications or sites if I've discovered them in my meanderings or if I think that not many others have highlighted them.

So, how do I decide on my blogging topics? Well, any topic has to fit into one of my identified categories and be focussed on technology or learning and the territory where  the two cross over. Occasionally, I'll drift off topic but that's what the Personal Reflections category is for! I work hard to write in my own voice and I try hard not to mimic other writers' styles. I try to represent an Australian perspective and I also operate under the principle that I am no expert, I don't pretend to be an expert but I am a learner and anyone who wants to participate in this learning is welcome to add their thoughts. Some blog posts build on ideas from earlier posts, and sometimes a comment on someone else's blog will create a new post here. So, this blog is more organic than designed and just like my learning, which is not linear in frequency or quality, the inspiration comes in fits and bursts.

I don't think it's fair to pass this meme along any further - I did well enough the first time.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

One thought on “How I Blog

  1. Brian Grenier

    Graham,

    Thank you for speaking to this topic. It has been interesting to see the similarities and differences that exist amongst various bloggers.

    I am taken by the simple honesty in this quote, and believe that it is a precise summary of what Education 2.0 is all about:

    I also operate under the principle that I am no expert, I don’t pretend to be an expert but I am a learner and anyone who wants to participate in this learning is welcome to add their thoughts.

    Keep up the great work!
    Brian

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *