Week 1: Academic Blog

I am happy that I have joined the course, " Building teacher skills through the interactive web".
Right in the first week I got a solution to a problem  which was nagging me since a long time.

I love being with students. However, at times I feel  guilty  when I see that I cannot pay individual attention to students in my large class. There are students with varying interest and abilities and all are eager to improve their communication. I have got a sense of direction now. Yes, I can use blogging as a complementary activity to class teaching. There is scope for freedom, innovation and therefore it can be a motivational tool for me and my students. I had heard about this wonderful tool but lacked clarity.

This is my first attempt at creating a blog. It was not a smooth process for me since I had to try hard to understand the internet terminology on the blogger's page. Much to my advantage, I found the instructions for creating a blog  supported by visual presentations in the reading materials. I found the home page of some of the sample blogs of past students very attractive so I was tempted to redesign my blog  using available templates and colourful background. 

I see that blog management is comparatively easy if as a teacher, I  have to manage only a single blog- a tutor's blog. Since the purpose there is to tap the individual experiences and to record  the reflections.   There are more challenges involved in to initiate and to manage class blog and learner's blog. As a teacher I will require to express myself from student's perspective and that too keeping a tab of time so that I may respond to them quickly.

I think its going to be equally challenging to attach an audio or video file.I found it equally challenging  to visit wiki and provide a URL to my co-participants so that I can get feedback from them.