You Too Can Blog

David Black posted on July 06, 2007 10:43

Wonder how to get started? It is easy to sign up for a free blog on The Church Door, the host of LutheranTech. Or you might want to take a look at the recently launched Lutherlearn Blog Network and build a blog there. Both sites specifically cater to educational technology and ministry related blogs and have a wide variety of tools available to help you get started.

What would you write about? Here are some possibilities:

Philosophic questions and concerns related to technology and ministry
Links and resources you've discovered
Share lessons and project ideas
Respond to the posts and ideas of others
Share your experiences as a ministry leader in the unique time and place where God has seen fit to place you

Of course, there are many more topics on which you could write. Some people might feel that such an effort would not be worth much, but what I believe you would find is that the process of preparing even simple posts will help you think through key issues and build your own professionalism. I know that blogging does that for me. Even if I only have one person read my posts, I feel I have a responsibility to share something new, interesting, and meaningful for that one person. That helps me to learn and grow as a professional.

Happy blogging! Let me know if you get a new blog related to technology and ministry up and running and I'll be sure to link to that to help you get started.

Posted in: Internet, Education, Personal

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# Dean Plummer

Friday, July 06, 2007 12:04 PM

I am investigating blogs for my personal and professional life. One question Dave - asking purely from ignorance because this is the first time I have actually taken the time to check out blogging in the first place - would blogging be a good use of a students time for writing purposes?

# David Black

Friday, July 06, 2007 12:31 PM

Dean:

I do believe that blogging has benefits for students. There are a variety of reasons for this, but here are a couple brief thoughts. First, blogging and writing forms of this nature are becoming a writing genre unto itself, one which has a growing acceptance and importance in the world of business and industry. Second, I have found that students have a greater sense of pride in their work when it is published in a format other than simply for their classroom teacher. In fact, an even greater motivator seems to be when they have other people comment on their posts.

Obviously, with tools like this there are questions of security, disclosure, etc. We can discuss some of these issues further if you would like.

# Wendy

Sunday, July 08, 2007 8:15 PM

I have found what you said to be true. My students have only been writing on my blog since April, but they really enjoy it. One blog entry has over 200 posts. One entry had to do with their experiences at Outdoor ed. I had a specific rubric for that one. They are now writing on a "Summer Happenings" blog.

Safety issues are a concern. They may only use their first name and they are to use my e-mail address - not theirs. But I do have to constantly go in and replace e-mail addresses. I'll have to work on emphasizing this better next year.

I have plans to make better use of the blog next year. The circumstances which led to the students posting took me by surprise so I was making up the rules as I went.

# David Black

Monday, July 09, 2007 10:40 AM

I think what Wendy experienced with blogging is common. We are experimenting with new tools and seeing how they make a difference with our students, but we are sometimes adjusting as we go along since these are not tools that we grew up with. That, in my mind, is another reason why we need to be conversing with one another. We can all learn and grow from the experiences of others, especially with fast-changing technologies.

You Too Can Blog

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