what’s in it for me? why would I want to start a blog?

Why indeed. I’ve been blogging since October 19, 2000, mainly as a sort of scrapbook/clipping service/notebook. I blog to note things of interest to me that I may want to quickly find again. On occasion I opine. The bonus is that I choose a public place for this and a few other folks are interested enough in what I post to follow along.

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For law faculty, I can think of 2 reasons to blog: self-publishing in areas of interest (scholarly and otherwise) and communicating with students. It is important to keep in mind that a blog and the software that powers it are just a set of tools that you use to accomplish something. While most blogs have certain off-the-cuff, spur-of-the-moment diary quality about them, that is not all that they are good for. The key thing about blogging is that it is web-publishing made easy. Blogs can do anything a ‘regular’ website can do, without the overhead.

For further reading about weblogs in education I would suggest Educational Blogging by Stephen Downes, (EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 39, no. 5 (September/October 2004): 14–26).

Why start a blog?

Self-publishing

  • pick a topic
  • pick a schedule
  • pick an editor
  • pick an audience

Class/Course blogging

  • quickly, easily post course material
  • allow for student comment and interaction
  • not email
  • less ‘overhead’ than Blackboard, TWEN

What’s in it for me?

  • A wider audience for your work
  • Increased communication with students