Monday, February 23, 2009

Keeping Up Appearances

Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you allArt by Hannah DearArt by Hannah Dear
Well it’s finally happened! Blogger in Middle-earth has had to go back to basics.

My home PC died over the weekend and I’m finding out how it is to blog without a PC! Any comments I post on other blogs will have to be real quick jobs at tea-break and lunch on my work laptop. So I’ll be up-skilling on the art of brevity. Perhaps I need to. As for my RSS Reader, I’m going to rely on doing a lot of skim dive skim, so Tony Karrer’s technique is going to come in very useful. You could say that this is the ‘back again’ bit, from my 100th post title, “There And Back Again”.

I still have my blog – thank goodness for cloud computing! My first blog post drafted with pen (I used a quill) on refill, was typed, formatted and posted at lunch. It is a look at some features of blogs that interest me from the point of view of their appearance and function, rather than just their content and literary significance.

Here goes!

I’m no expert at blogging, but I think I’m getting an eye for recognising those who are. Of course, it’s only by getting to know the writers in my RSS Reader, and by visiting their blogs regularly, that I can sense some of the characteristics that show me their writing is likely to be authentic.

It’s not all to be found in the diction, ‘tone of voice’, sub-headings, paragraphing, and text layout either, so I have to go further than what’s displayed in my RSS Reader. What I’ve been looking at recently is really complimentary to all that makes for good reading in a blog post.

There are several telltale features that I’m learning to recognise. Though not all of these are present in every valued blog, noteworthy combinations of these can often point to the quality and genuineness of the writings.

Paint jobs and other renovations:

A significant number of my favourite bloggers have brought a fresh new look to their blogs recently – perhaps a new blog header or colour scheme, or in some cases a complete new template. Invariably they have announced the changes, and asked followers for their opinion. This shows me that the blogger is thinking of how the blog is coming across to the viewer - reflective practice, if you like.

Threads and follow-ups:

It’s always refreshing to read a post about something new and innovative, but it is also invigorating to follow how an idea develops in the mind of the writer.

Carrying a train of thought from an earlier post to the next over a series of posts is not uncommon among bloggers. The progression of thoughts expressed and how the blogger’s beliefs, feelings and point of view develop through discussion, however, is a clear sign of an active mind, willing to learn and be enlightened.

Visitors following such series of posts stand a better chance of being introduced to new ideas, and forming their own opinions by reading the debate of others, than if they are following a progressive series that simply introduces a particular theory or principle.

Updated blog roll in the side bar:

It’s always good to be introduced to the writing of bloggers new to me. One of the ways I expand the scope of my reading in this area is by examining the blog rolls of other bloggers. In doing this I have become aware that good bloggers ring the changes by introducing new sites to their blog rolls. I see the alternative to this as analogous to the notice board that’s seldom updated. People get so tired looking at the same old postings that they miss the new notice when it appears.

Relevant, appropriate and novel illustrations:

The blogger who selects images, animations and videos that deliver the message of the post, uses a first class elearning design technique. Using pictures and diagrams specifically and only to assist with the content of the post avoids the flippancy of distraction. The word ‘engagement’ springs to mind and this is exactly why the technique is so successful in elearning.

Awakening the dream:

Bloggers who try something different show creativity and a desire to experiment.

Jonathan Mead of Zen Habits explains that trying something, anything, not just doing what works, is the way to go. He explains that doing what works every time ‘is the number one dream killer’.

Don’t kill your dreams. Try something different.


Ka kite anō – Catch ya later

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hear you Ken,
I just had a friend move my blogs to a center place called digitalbonnie.com and I've moved from edublogs to word press.
And it's a lot to get used to and that's a good thing.
Now I'm wondering how my homepage should look and for that support my tech buddy can't work from her computer. We are meeting face to face. How exciting!
Not enough to be virtual,
Bonnie

Andrea said...

sorry to hear about the pc! ouch. can you bring the work laptop home (provided you want to do that)?
I don't know why I feel surprised when I read a post like this one and think to myself...wow, I am doing a lot of these things! I was happy to see that I met a lot of your criteria for keeping up with the blogging-Joneses.
Except that I recently updated my blogroll (which was pretty old) and didn't blog about the update. oops. I think one of my biggest blogging roadblocks is fear of being trite or repetitive. I need to keep reminding myself that, just like with life, everyone dips their toe into the blogging pool at a different moment.

V Yonkers said...

I have been feeling like this the last month as my classroom has no access to technology. I am having to be very creative in finding ways to expose my students to speeches without access to even a DVD player in one of my classes (not to mention having to use chalk which I am allergic to). But this gives us the opportunity to be creative.

On the other hand, I LIKE having technology in the classroom so I hope I don't have to put up with this next semester. I'd like to go back to my comfort zone eventually, hopefully with new skills or insights.

Blogger In Middle-earth said...

Kia ora Bonnie
You have obviously been doing a lot of shifting lately. I now have 3 of your blogs in my RSS Reader.

Tēnā koe Andrea
Bringing the laptop home isn't much of a problem though I can't eaily connect it to the Internet as the sofware to make the connection has to be resident on the laptop. I haven't a problem with that.

Thing is, I haven't a problem with writing with a pen either. But it is a temporary situation I hope. I am more concerned for my daughter Catriona. She uses the Internet for her homework.

Kia ora Virginia
Poor you with an allergic reaction to the classroom environment! I hope you get back to your digital environment soon.

I guess having lived for almost 50 years without a home computer, and using a pen and notepad for writing most of these years, gives me a bit of an advantage over the so-called 'digital natives' :-)

Catchya later