Learn English
- Write A Guest Post For Great Exposure
Did you know that writing a guest post is one of the best ways to get your name out there and increase your visibility on the Internet? If you are an English teacher, a student, a company or simply a blogger that would like to get some links to his/her...
- Pln: What Does It Mean To You?
A Personal Learning Nebula!Over on Gavin Dudeney's blog his latest post outlines a critique of personal learning networks particularly in reference to that associated with ELT. He also questions how useful twitter really is in allowing learning to...
- How Do You Manage Your Time Online?
I received last Friday, multiple times, an invitation to do some blog reading homework at the weekend, an idea suggested by livesofteachers. Now I like reading blogs and I like Darren's blog but one thing I won't do (I realise I have a free choice...
- My List Of Ten Blogs
Ok, this is my ten blogs thing, I was tagged my @martulmj and @livesofteachers, who both have interesting blogs that I like. It's quite hard to get a new slant on it though, because lots of choices have been used up already and I don't want to...
- Give Me More Twitter!
Throughout my Easter break and just after, I felt like I'd had enough of twitter. After barely accessing it for a couple of weeks I decided to get back in and be more sociable. I had a great holiday though! Here I am on a beach in Huelva. As a result...
Learn English
The Power of a Blog
I have enjoyed the last week massively. I've had a huge 'lift-off' moment, I suppose, with regards to my online presence. I was moved to write my previous post by a comment on the notorious TurkishTefl blog and suddenly found myself being re-tweeted, quoted, recommended and recently tagged in the '10 blogs to share' thing that's been speeding round. Well, to say I was shocked is an understatement. I have gone, in the space of two weeks, from a shy, self-conscious and uncertain newbie-blogger to someone who people are actually reading! I went from about 10 hits to nearly two hundred in a few days; from virtually no comments to, well, some! A small step maybe, but hugely motivating for me and I'd like to say a huge thank-you to everybody who helped my blog become slightly better known. However, now I feel somewhat under pressure to deliver something interesting again and that feels a bit odd, to be honest.
Putting that trepidation aside, I thought I'd share a couple of thoughts about the aforementioned fire-cracker of a blog post and some things it got me thinking about.
Having read the blog at its inception, commented on a small part that was relevant to me, read as the comments flew in and blogged a digression, it occurred to me the tremendous power of a blog. How the written word, or rather the documented word in general, is so difficult to retract. Nowadays, with the spread of social media, the way we are connected is so strong that things happen so quickly. I'm sure Gordon Brown wishes that microphones and the internet didn't exist, nor old women for that matter.
Documented words can be misinterpreted, as can live conversational speech, yet speech can be instantly retracted or softened to appease the listener. Despite the fact that twitter and blogs move so fast, a writer has much less opportunity to appease a reader and it seems that in the blogosphere fires can burn like dry forests in summer.
I have no real opinion on the comments regarding the conferences mentioned there. I have little experience of them, even less of presenting. I attended neither, know none of the people involved personally and have no wish to continue any of THAT debate on my blog. However, in terms of fair pay I do believe some things could be done ? as mentioned in my comment on that post and in my previous post, but that's for another time.
My point really is that it is important we remember how strong the words we use can appear in writing, how others may feel when receiving criticism and how fast these things can travel online.
How much could the networking opportunities of blogging affect ones career? Well, possibly quite a lot, clearly. But what will be the importance of how our potential or current employers see these things? Should we advertise our blog on our CVs? Is having a lauded blog the equivalent of having articles written in journals, a past method of improving ones standing in the industry? Furthermore, what if a potential employer researches our online work and takes exception to something you have written and disagrees with your teaching methodology or even your politics?
I think these are important questions. How important is the online PLN of TEFL going to become? Is it the beginnings of a larger 'inner-circle'? Sometimes it does feel cliquey and even cult like, but it is richly rewarding and enjoyable to be a part of it.
Developing an online 'presence' leaves a big footprint and as long as you're honest and open enough to be yourself, then you're becoming well-known, but what will it all mean to us regular teachers?!
As always, I'd love to read your comments.
- Write A Guest Post For Great Exposure
Did you know that writing a guest post is one of the best ways to get your name out there and increase your visibility on the Internet? If you are an English teacher, a student, a company or simply a blogger that would like to get some links to his/her...
- Pln: What Does It Mean To You?
A Personal Learning Nebula!Over on Gavin Dudeney's blog his latest post outlines a critique of personal learning networks particularly in reference to that associated with ELT. He also questions how useful twitter really is in allowing learning to...
- How Do You Manage Your Time Online?
I received last Friday, multiple times, an invitation to do some blog reading homework at the weekend, an idea suggested by livesofteachers. Now I like reading blogs and I like Darren's blog but one thing I won't do (I realise I have a free choice...
- My List Of Ten Blogs
Ok, this is my ten blogs thing, I was tagged my @martulmj and @livesofteachers, who both have interesting blogs that I like. It's quite hard to get a new slant on it though, because lots of choices have been used up already and I don't want to...
- Give Me More Twitter!
Throughout my Easter break and just after, I felt like I'd had enough of twitter. After barely accessing it for a couple of weeks I decided to get back in and be more sociable. I had a great holiday though! Here I am on a beach in Huelva. As a result...