Reasons to be blogging ... 1 2 3....

Image from Pixabay

I'm often asked why I blog. What's the attraction? Is it worth the effort? How do I keep it going? Here are 5 reasons:

Firstly, blogging keeps me focused and engaged. I'm always seeking new ideas and content for my next blog. When you write regularly, you're always on the look out for new content. Also, you're only as good as your last blog post! This means that I try to be actively engaged with everything I do and see as I hunt for new images, methods, projects and ideas that can be used for education contexts. Then I blog about them.

Secondly, blogging helps me to think more clearly.  I write and compose a post as a means of turning my abstract thoughts and disparate ideas into some coherent and meaningful whole. This post for example, started life as a series of notes on my smartphone after a conversation. You might be surprised how many posts I actually discard. Those that are actually published represent my thinking more clearly, and blogging helps me to reflect upon, and crystallise those ideas.

Thirdly, blogging compels me to raise my game. I compose my post in a manner that best conveys my thinking to an audience. This means I am compelled to write concisely and with relevance. It also encourages me to check the provenance and accuracy of my sources, the status of the information I'm presenting and the copyright status of images and other content I incorporate.

Fourthly, blogging gives me a creative outlet for my thinking. I don't have to stick to a specific format of writing. I can develop posts into satire, narrative, dialogue, metaphor... or stick with academic prose. The possibilities are endless.

Finally, it gives me feedback from, and promotes dialogue with my professional community of practice. I post my content with an awareness that I have an audience out there who will be critical and inquiring. Some might respond with comments which themselves could present me with further learning opportunities. This double loop of learning and reflection is one of the most powerful aspects of blogging.


Reasons to be blogging... 1 2 3 by Steve Wheeler was written in Auckland, New Zealand and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.