Multimedia Development :: Blog

http://www.clappingtrees.com/archives/2008/10/technorati%e2%80%99s-s

MAJORITY OF CORPORATE and professional bloggers have seen a positive impact as a result of their blog, according to Technorati’s latest State of the Blogosphere report published on Sept 22. Half are better known in their industry, and one in four have used their blog as a resume enhancement. Fewer than one in ten have seen a negative impact from blogging and one in three have yet to see an impact.

Impact of Blogging on Professional Life





MORE KEY FINDINGS: The average annual blogger revenue is more than $6,000. However, this is skewed by the top 1% of bloggers who earn $200k+. Among active bloggers surveyed, the average income was $75,000 for those who had 100,000 or more unique visitors per month (some of whom had more than one million visitors each month). The median annual income for this group is significantly lower — $22,000.

Bloggers with advertising invest an average of $1,800 annually in their blogs. U.S. bloggers earn an average of $5,000, though bloggers in Asia earn 50% more on average and European bloggers earn an average of 75% more than U.S. bloggers. Again, high revenue bloggers skew the mean revenue. The median revenue for U.S. bloggers is $200 annually (and the median annual investment is only $50).

Blogging has also brought many unique opportunities to these bloggers that otherwise would not have been available. One in four have been invited to participate in an event as a result of their blog, one in five have contributed to a print publication as a result of their blog, and almost as many have found themselves on TV and/or on the radio.

Have you been invited to any of the following as a result of your blog?

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2008/10/newsfilm-online/

I’ve just found NewsFilm Online from the Guardian Education Website. Most Universities in the UK seem to have access, seems like a very valuable resource.

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http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2008/10/academiaedu/

Academia.edu | Home An attempt to map who’s doing what, where. C’mon Portsmouth, there’s only 7 of us listed, as does Southampton; but Plymouth has 54, and Edinburgh 58!

It’s not the fastest of websites, and adding your interests is a little slow. It’s good, in that there’s a list to choose from - thus reducing the chances of mis-spelling etc., however, not everything is in the list. Bizarrely, given the nature of the website, neither “Social Networking” nor “Web2.0″ feature… (Also - “University of Southampton” & “Southampton University” were listed - the latter didn’t have any departments or people. It let me delete it … will I get told off?)

Via: Stephen Downes.

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For the Theory and Practice of E-learning module we have been asked to reflect on a key e-learning concept.

Gilly Salmon's 5-stage model seems like a good starting point. We looked at this in the Foundation course in a module on Supporting Learners Online. Salmon's E-moderating book was a useful reference tool for this module and I drew heavily on the structure of the 5 stages for my coursework. Whenever e-learning is discussed, Gilly Salmon's name is used. Her model has been readily accepted by the e-learning community as the 'standard' to use.

Pam Moule has taken a different view and challenged Salmon's concept in a paper which outlines another model, the 'e-learning ladder'. While Moule accepts that there are similarities between the 5 steps and her ladder, she feels that the 5 stage model is too narrow in its view based, as it is, solely on the constructivist approach to learning. The ladder takes into account instructivist approaches, blended learning and face-to-face teaching. She also feels that it can be easily adapted to encompass mobile learning in the (near) future.

The ladder certainly explores the learning processes in more depth. And while the image of the ladder suggests a rigid hierarchical progression the idea is, in fact, of a more flexible linking mechanism.

 

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2008/10/using-blogs-to-e

Using Blogs to Enhance Learning – Some Helpful Tips - , puts forward some useful points.

In particular,

teachers need to be clear that a blog is an individualized tool for one learner. Yes, students can leave comments on a colleague’s blog that represent a reflection of the material presented. But if a teacher is seeking reactions from a collective group the tool to use would be a wiki or a discussion forum. In essence, teachers must select the proper tool for the task.

(”Open Education”, 2008)

This is something that I’ve had a number of conversations with others about - when they ask about creating a “class blog”. In part, we have to decide what the purpose of the blog is; is it for reflection, (in which case, I’m not sure that anyone would argue against individual blogs), or is it for news sharing, in which case, a group blog (as is the way that WebCT Vista blogs are set up) works.

Many of the ideas in the blog post are linked back to some work that Reynard, from the Career Education Corporation did. The blog links to her “Avoiding the 5 most Common Mistakes in Using Blogs with Students” , and I think it’s this that the ideas in “Open Education”’s post are based on. I’m sometimes sceptical of agencies with words like “Career” in the title, as I’ve sometimes found that they tend to concentrate more on the “training” aspects of learning, rather than the more “educational” aspects - those things that it’s actually far harder to measure, yet are vital. However, her points seem to concur pretty closely with my ideas.

The idea of assessment is mentioned, and I think that she is looking at Blogging for grades, as well as blogging for learning. A blog does have the opportunity, I believe, to offer value for students without necessarily having to be graded. The student, however, has to come to that realisation, and, for many, an initial “graded” introduction may be of use, so she can decide whether or not it’s for her. Blogs aren’t for everyone, and that’s something we, as blogging enthusiasts, have to remember!

I’m still not quite sure about the diagram used in the article



, as I can’t quite work out who owns which blog. Ownership of blogs is something that “Open Education”, Reynard and I all feel is vital …

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http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2008/10/most-useful-twit

Now that I’ve started to get into Twitter, I wonder how many of these “Most Useful Twitter Services That Can Help Your Business Grow” will also be relevant to Educational uses of it.

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http://oldude59.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/if-youre-out-there/

As the race for the Presidential campaign continues -  keep in mind that work needs doing - don’t pass it off to someone else.

      

http://shiflett.org/

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2008/10/a-vision-of-stud

I’ve seen this video in the past, but had forgotten about it until someone reminded me. Worth watching again, now that we have a new semester.

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http://oldude59.wordpress.com/2008/10/05/dedication-to-life-resilienc

The simple feeling of love does not mean that you stop there - Alonzo takes the next step - giving.