Th Ou Shalt Blog

Slide 1: ThOU shalt blog Martin We lle r & To ny Hirs t

Slide 2: Overview • Why blo g ? • S te ps to blo g g ing • What to o ls ? Firs t a he alth warning : http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v =12yD8JyaVvY

Slide 3: Why blog: There is a whole world out there Yo u ne e d to e s tablis h a bas e c amp <http://xkcd.com/c256.ht ml>

Slide 4: The economics of reputation If you a in’t c onne c te d, you’re de a d

Slide 5: Engagement with your subject area < http://www.flickr.com/photos/54785872@N00/306718042/ peikko06>

Slide 6: Increased reflection http://www.flickr.com/photos/pichl/420032874/ bohem2020

Slide 7: Personal status (and cash!) http://www.flickr.com/photos/storm_gal/256182095/ storm_gal

Slide 8: Organisational status http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v =YbjsuEuSZb4

Slide 9: Link to teaching

Slide 10: Practise what we preach

Slide 11: It exposes the process <http://www.flickr.com/photos/jess271 2/348750797/ jess2712>

Slide 12: It provides a useful tool for engaging with other technologies <http://www.eboy.com>

Slide 13: Time saving • Dire c t pe o ple to yo ur blo g • Pro vide s me ans o f re c o rding • Pro vide s e as y dis s e minatio n po int • Give s yo u g o o d ac c e s s to a c o mmunity

Slide 14: Some new addictions • Blo g g ing • Che c king Te c hno rati • Che c king s tats • Adding widg e ts • Pro mo ting • Talking abo ut blo g g ing

Slide 15: Getting the voice right • Have a c e ntral fo c us • Add value • I do n’t c are abo ut yo ur c ats • Po s t re g ularly • It’s fo r yo u as muc h as the audie nc e

Slide 16: A continuum of OUness

Slide 17: Do we need an OU blog code? • If you a lre a dy h a ve a pe rs ona l b log or we b s ite wh ich indic a te s in a ny wa y th a t you work a t th e OU you s h ould te ll your m a na g e r. • If you wa nt to s ta rt b log g ing , a nd your b log / b s ite will s a y th a t you work for th e OU you s h o uld te ll your ma na g e r. we • If your b log ma ke s it c le a r th a t you work for th e OU, it s h ould inc lude a s imple a nd vis ib le dis cla ime r s uc h a s “th e s e a re my pe rs ona l vie ws a nd not th os e of th e OU”. • Unle s s th e re a re s pe c ific c onc e rns a b out th e na ture of your job , you a re fre e to ta lk a b out your Ope n Unive rs ity work on your b log . Cons ult your m a na g e r if in a ny doub t. • Don’t re ve a l c onfide ntia l informa tion. Th is mig h t inc lude a s pe c ts of OU polic y or de ta ils of inte rna l OU dis c us s ions . Ag a in, c ons ult your ma na g e r if you a re unc le a r a b ou t wh a t m ig h t b e c onfide ntia l. • It's e a s y to wh ing e on a blog , jus t like it is in e m a il: th ink twic e b e fore doing s o. Anyth ing you m ig h t re g re t putting on a pos tc a rd th a t m ig h t ra n domly g e t s potte d b y a nyone in th e wo rld, inc luding your de pa rtme nta l ma na g e me nt a nd s e nior s ta ff a t th e OU, is s ome th ing you'll c e rta inly re g re t putting on you r b log . • B log po s ts ne ve r dis a ppe a r. E ve n if you de le te th e m, s o me 'c ra wle r' or 'ca c h e ' s oftwa re tool prob a b ly h a s th e m in a re pos itory s ome wh e re for la te r re trie va l. • You s h ould not us e your blog s to a tta c k or a b us e c olle a g ue s . You s h ould re s pe c t th e priva c y a nd th e fe e ling s of oth e rs . R e me mb e r th a t if you b re a k th e la w on your b log (for e xa m ple b y pos ting s ome th ing de fa ma tory), you will b e pe rs ona lly re s pons ib le . • P olitic a l c om m e nta ry oug h t to b e a le g itim a te b log g ing a c tivity, jus t a s a le tte r to a ne ws pa pe r s ig ne d with your a ca de m ic a ffilia tion would b e le g itima te . In th is c a s e , you prob a b ly wa nt to th ink a little m ore c le a rly b e fo re 'le tting loos e '. • If you th ink s ome th ing on your b log or we b s ite g ive s ris e to c onc e rns a b out a c onflict of inte re s t a nd in pa rticula r conc e rns a b out im pa rtia lity or confide ntia lity th is m us t b e dis c us s e d with your ma na g e r. • If s ome one offe rs to pa y you for b log g ing th is c ould cons titute a conflic t of inte re s t a nd you mus t cons ult your ma na g e r. • P utting a ds (like G oog le AdS e ns e -s upplie d a ds ) on a n Ope n Unive rs ity-h os te d b log is prob a b ly not a g re a t ide a , a nd m a y e ve n b e ille g a l (it would b e a little like Nike a ds a ppe a ring on th e B B C). • If s ome one from th e m e dia or pre s s c onta c ts you a b out pos ts on your b lo g th a t re la te to th e OU you m a y wa nt to cons ide r ta lking to your ma na g e r b e fore re s ponding - a nd you s h ould b e a wa re th a t th e pre s s m a y 'ove rly s implify' wh a t you h a ve a c tua lly s a id . Th e Comm unic a tions G roup/ Com munica tions Ma na g e r for th e pro je c t mus t b e cons ulte d.

Slide 18: 7 steps to blogoheaven 1. S e t up an ac c o unt 2. Po s t re g ularly 3. Re g is te r with Te c hno rati 4. S e t up a blo g re ade r 5. S ubs c ribe to 20 blo g s 6. Co mme nt o n a blo g 7. Have fun

Slide 19: OU bloggers • Me – http://edtechie.net • Tony Hirst - http://ouseful.info • John Naughton - http://memex.naughtons.org/ • Ray Corrigan - http://b2fxxx.blogspot.com/ • Marc Eisenstadt http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/marc/ • James Aczel http://h809.blogspot.com/ • Doug Clow http://dougclow.wordpress.com • Patrick McAndrew - http://ochre.wordpress.com • Laura Dewis and Stuart Brown - http://conclave.open.ac.uk/openair • Alex Little - http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/alex • Steve Godwin - http://openlearn.blogspot.com/index.html • Niall Sclater - http://sclater.com/blog/ • Juliette White - http://www.jvvw.com/index.php • Graphics blog - http://blogs.open.ac.uk/LTS/csn47/ • Guy Carberry http://conclave.open.ac.uk/guycarberry/ • Library - http://libraryissues.blogspot.com/index.html • Mikele Pasin - http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/mikele/blog • Peter Scott - http://sixfields.open.ac.uk/peterblog/index.html • Andrew Brasher - http://conclave.open.ac.uk/brasherblog/

Slide 20: Some discussion points S ho uld the re be an OU blo g g ing c o de o f prac tic e ? “If you a c c e pt th e pre m is e th a t c h a ng e , knowle dg e (a nd c om ple xity) a re a c c e le ra ting , th e n it s e e m s a lm os t profe s s iona lly ne g le c tful not to b e e s ta b lis h ing a wide a nd de e p ne twork to h e lp de a l with it” (S c ott Le s lie ) Sho uld we be re c ognis ing blo g s as acade mic public atio ns ? Are blo g s he re to s tay? What s ho uld the OU be do ing ?