Instructional Technology and Blogs!

Instructional technology, as a educator is crucial. One of the kinds of technologies that I will always want to be incorporating in my classrooms are tools such as YouTube, Blogger, and some form of discussion board (whether that be through an LMS like GoogleClassroom or CourseSites). I think that these forms of technology really help benefit students in the classroom setting because they offer access to different resources and the opportunities for learning are essentially endless.

The process of creating blogs will be important in supporting my students. The interface itself for Blogger is very easy to follow. They have a clear and concise outline for who to maneuver and use all of the things that Blogger has to offer. I also have been blogging for some time and find it easy to personalize a page. I made my own banner for this page, as well as found a background that I liked. Because of that, I have been able to personalize my blog right away. I have been using blog sites for many years now, so the process of creating a new blog is not challenging. It's more about looking around and investigating all a site has to offer before choosing to utilize it as a resource. The biggest challenge I also encounter when creating a blog is what to write about. I like to have catchy titles, so creating posts that are engaging right off the bat are challenging. Navigating interfaces and editing modes are also challenging sometimes, and often websites don't offer tutorials. I know I want to do something specific, but I don't always know how to do it.

My familiarity with blogs will be really beneficial when I have online classrooms, because it will serve as a possible assignment or another form of communication in an online learning environment.