Reflection on Blogging

This was my first real experience with blogging. In the past, I have looked at several blogs, but I never really got into them. I prefer reading actual articles and opinion pieces, and then commenting on them, as opposed to reading what often seems like someone’s random thoughts. That may be because I have not found any blogs that discussed topics that really interested me, however. I discovered that I enjoyed blogging, though, and I think the format of this class had something to do with that. I would have been in trouble if I had to come up with my own topic ideas each week, as well as researching and writing about each topic.

It also helped to have several other people who I knew were reading my blog. The constant feedback helped me feel like I was not just randomly posting for no reason. I was also glad that we each had such diverse topics to research. Of the two topics that I had, the one that I found most interesting was digital storytelling. I watch videos on YouTube all the time, but I did not have any idea that YouTube style videos could be used as a tool in the classroom, as they can be through digital storytelling. Digital storytelling is definitely an idea I will keep in mind for the future!

As to the other topics, I really enjoyed learning about concept mapping, NoodleTools, and iTunes U. I have used such software as Inspiration and Kidspiration before, and I was glad to learn more about them. I did not know that iTunes offered something like iTunes U, and although I was not altogether impressed by the content offered, I really like the concept. I especially liked learning about NoodleTools, because I am always on the hunt for a new, easier way to create and format citations. Each of these tools has definite potential for future use in a school library or classroom.

Although I learned a lot from this experience, there were also some difficulties. Since I was creating this blog for a class assignment, I had a hard time achieving the conversational style of posting that most blogs have. I treated a lot of my posts like a real paper, and for that reason, I ended up spending too much time researching and writing, and not enough time actually posting. I also had a difficult time keeping up with the allotted number of posts each week.

I would definitely consider using blogging as a way of connecting with students/patrons in a future library. I may even try it again for myself, but since I never really had much luck with a diary, I do not know if that will work out!