Reflecting on the Blogging Process
When assigned our final writing project, which was to post online blogs, I found the assignment to be extremely relevant to the topic in which I had been writing on all quarter. This quarter in CTW class I have been writing and focusing on the topic of technology in education. The assignment almost became proof for what I had been writing about. Our class has been using blogs, a fairly new way to write and publish content using the internet, to publish academic writing. This assignment, in a way, is an example of technology being used to advance the spread of academia. In my last post, I turned an essay I wrote into a blog entry. As I turned my essay into a blog post, I encountered challenges I did not think I would have and I learned the actual influence technology has on education through using technology to post an academic blog entry.
Challenges
As I transformed my formal educational essay into a blog post, which has to not only inform the reader, but capture their attention and care while they read, I ran into unforeseen challenges. One challenge I faced was being able to pick and chose which ideas would make it from my essay into my blog post. I had such a long and intricate synthesis essay it was difficult for me to chose which facts and arguments I wanted to present in my blog post. In addition, I struggled to portray my own voice in my writing while still maintaining enough formality in my tone so the reader takes my academic arguments seriously. I would write one version of a paragraph and it would sound like a robot; the writing would be static and monotone, droning on in a way that no one would want to read. Then my next draft of the same paragraph would sound totally insincere. My writing would become clouded with colloquial terms and I would push the limits of slang and voice, ultimately leading to my writing being extremely unsuccessful. I had to draft multiple versions of all of my paragraphs and each attempt taught me something knew about combining voice and character, with seriousness and academia.
Before attempting to write my blog post, I had no idea how difficult it would to combine my voice with my arguments in a way that would captivate the reader but also allow me to prove my points. I now have a new found appreciation and respect for the ability to be able to argue ones ideas but also relate to the reader of the writing piece. I now understand the importance of being able to write in different categories of voice. There is importance in both being able to write scholarly essays and be able to write relatable blog posts. I used to be of the mindset that an author’s skill came from how well they could write a formal essay and get a good grade on it, but now I understand it is much more about what the author says and not only the arguments they present, but how they present them.
Technology Improving the Quality of MY Blog
While writing about technology improving education, technology was also improving the quality of my blog. I used hyperlinks, embedded images, and real world examples. A “blog”, which is how I posted my writing, is a technological advancement. Without technology and the internet, I would not be able to even post a blog. It is interesting to think about the way I posted my writing influence the argument I wrote about. As the reader perused my blog post, the technological examples I used to make my writing better also added to the credibility of my arguments. If technology is able to make my educational blog post better, than technology can also make other educational facets better as well.
Another extremely important facet of my blog is that because of technology my blog is linked online with thousands of other people having the same conversation. Through hyperlinks, related articles, and even my blog url, my blog is accessible to anyone online. Articles and blogs on the internet are extremely easy to find and they are all linked to each other only because they are all posted online. This opens so many threads of conversation which then expands the current conversation on the topic. Education and technology are both paramount in our current society which means they must be talked about widely online. This sort of open conversation linking thousands of ideas and view points could be beneficial in education. If educators can share their techniques and best practices online, than the exchange of better ideas and techniques will spread like wildfire.
Concluding Thoughts
To conclude this post I would like to state that blogging has taught me important skills and the rewriting of my own essay was a beneficial learning experience. Being able to reconstruct and re-stylize ones own writing is important to being an successful author. The point of publishing a piece of writing is to add to an ongoing conversation and to put your arguments about the conversation out there. As an author, communicating your arguments successfully is a key to having your audience believe the points you present as an author.
While writing my blog posts, I learned the importance of being able to write to your audience and changing your writing so the reader finds it interesting. In conclusion, I want to state that the exercise of blogging has taught me a lot about writing and how to write in a new way. Before this assignment, I had never written a blog before. This was a new experience which taught me writing techniques of how to persuade an audience through a specific writing medium. Overall, I enjoyed the process of blogging and learning how to use a (relatively) new technology to publish academic writing.