For the past few months, I have been exploring web 2.0 technologies. In particular, I have been learning about blogs, wikis, and podcasts and how one might use these technologies as a teacher-librarian or as a classroom teacher. I have also had the challenge of not only exploring but of becoming somewhat of an “expert” (and I use that term loosely) so that I may prove to be a valuable resource to others. Although I have read many articles and explored many examples, I still would not consider myself an expert. However, I have been enlightened.
One of the things that I’ve learned recently is that creating and maintaing a blog is much more fulfilling, in comparison to creating and maintaining a web site. Websites are great for the person who is good at presenting information in a clear and concise manner. All throughout university, my professors have consistently praised me for being “clear and concise.” So, you might think that creating and a maintaining a website would be a pefect fit. However, since discovering the art of blogging, I can honestly say that I find blogging more fulfilling. When I blog, it’s like an orgainzed stream of consciousness. When, I update a website, I am really stripping all of the topics to the bare bones. To me, this is the way a website works best. People want to be able to navigate quickly through one’s website to get to whatever it is that they need. They don’t want to read lots of text.
So, in conclusion, if you are contemplating the options of creating a blog vs a website, I highly recommend that you take a moment to ask yourself what it is that you want to get out of it. Do you want to lead discussions or do you want to simply point others in the “right” direction?
