Page developed by Angela Hook, Anita Hamilton & Merrolee Penman
Introduction
Blogs (short for: web-logs) are websites that individuals known as "bloggers" create and maintain (Hendron, 2008). Usually a blog is about a single topic or theme and items are posted on a regular basis with the most recent entries appearing at the top. Each entry is called a "post" with most bloggers allowing others to respond by "posting" comments. Blogs can be developed and maintained by individuals or groups, with little technical know-how or experience. A blog can be either private with the blogger deciding who can view their blog, or public being open for viewing by anyone with Internet access. A blog can include text, pictures, video, audio, Internet links, RSS feeds and the list grows as technology advances.
A growing number of healthcare practitioners maintain a professional blog. Many report that through their blogs they are discovering other people with similar interests and have formed international online communities of practice (Kamel Boulos & Wheeler, 2007; Bodell, et al., 2008). This trend occurred with blogs being created by people living with an illness or disability where people shared stories and offered to support to others experiencing a similar life event. Blogs offer us an opportunity to gain insight into others' experiences and to ask questions.
As a reflective practitioner you may find that a blog can provide you with a forum to record thoughts, experiences, impressions and struggles. While blogs can be valuable tools, healthcare practitioners should be careful about the content of their reflections. If confidential information is recorded, then blog settings must be set to private, or shared only with their supervisor/mentor. If the blogger chooses an open blog, then confidential or identifying information cannot be used. Open blogs are best if they focus on the individual's learning rather than experiences of the clients or the workplace.
Finding relevant blogs
Visit these blogs and look at their blog rolls to find others that may interest you
What to blog about
it doesn't have to be original - but put your own slant on topics that may even have wide coverage. Start by leaving a comment on a blog post. Maybe to encourage and agree with what is being said. Then, work towards offering another viewpoint or a question of your own. Eventually you will have confidence to just write a post on your own blog (or even ask to be a guest blogger on someone else's site). Have you had a good/bad experience you want to share and ask for help with, are you needing guidance, do you want to just find a voice. The first post is the hardest.
Why blog?
Why would anyone want to read what you say? Engaging in any kind of dialogue with other professionals can be stimulating and interesting. You have your own experiences to share and maybe your own questions to ask. Start by reading some of the blogs and get a flavour of what is being talked about - you'd be surprised at what you can offer and share. "Lurk" about to start but then you need to begin to engage.
Blogs can be used to share knowledge and experience, debate, reflection (click on each word to link to a blog post that illustrates these points).
Virtual groups can co-construct knowledge within a community (Kamel Boulos et al 2006).
Advantages of blogging
Disadvantages of blogging
Commenting on a blog
How to create a blog
Watch this video by Merrolee Penman about creating a blog
Two blogging sites are outlined here. Blogger for its simplicity and WordPress for its sophistication.
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Blogger is owned by Google and can be set up in about 10 minutes. It has a range of basic templates to which you can add text, pictures, video, audio, Internet links and RSS feeds (see this page for explanation of RSS feeds). You can set your blog to be public or private.
- In Wordpress you can also add text, pictures, video, audio, Internet links and RSS feeds but it also has a wider range of templates and the capacity for you to upload documents such as PowerPoint or portable document format (pdf). A key feature is that each post in a Wordpress blog can be set at a different level of privacy. These can be private posts accessed only by the blogger, posts accessible to selected people using a password, or posts that are fully open to the public. Some bloggers have used Wordpress as an e-portfolio, including text, presentations, audio, video and images. For a small yearly subscription, users can upgrade from 4GB of storage upwards to 25GB.
How to start blogging
Netiquette: net-etiquette (aka how to behave online)
As with any professional behaviour we need to consider standards of conduct both your own and that of others. This is covered further by Sarah in online profile management and Social Networking section of the wiki. Remember that everything on the Internet is archived forever and is reproducible, so be careful what you commit to print! So that you can also keep an eye on what others post on your blog use the built settings that enable you to moderate comments made by others before they are published on your site.
Hints and tips for writing your blog posts
Some tips and guidance
The Blog Page of OT4OT by OT4OT is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License Please attribute (or reference) any use of this site to OT4OT (2010).
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