This post is in part a follow-up to some of things I discussed on the Seedlings podcast a couple of weeks ago and is in part a response to a common email question. I understand that because of the frequency with which I post it might appear that I blog about everything I see. In fact, I blog about less than a quarter of the "educational resources" that I see in a given day. How I choose what to blog about is the purpose of this post. Back in My Seven Edublogging Secrets I shared the importance of focusing your blog's content, consider this a follow-up to that blog post.
The first question I ask myself before writing about a new website or service is, "does this have real relevance to a classroom and is it universally accessibly?" There are a lot of neat things that I see every day, but a lot of them don't have relevance to education. Similarly, until last week, I've refrained from writing about iPhone and Android apps because they're not as universally accessible as a purely web-based service.
The second question I ask is, "can the average teacher access this in five minutes?" If the answer is "no," I probably won't write about it. If something isn't easily accessible to a teacher, he or she isn't likely to spend 30 frustrating minutes trying to figure it out. There are exceptions to this rule, but in general my first concern is accessibility.
Another question I ask myself is, "can students access this quickly and is the advertising classroom-safe?" In general, I believe that if a teacher can access a service quickly, students will be able to as well. Questionable advertising has kept a lot websites off of Free Technology for Teachers. If the advertising I see is inappropriate or intrusive, I don't blog about that site.
In a typical week I'll receive between 35 and 50 email pitches from public relations people. In almost every case those emails are unsolicited and I don't respond to them. Occasionally, I get an email that actually informs me of a free resource that's worth sharing with you, but that is the exception to the rule. Why? Because there are only a couple of PR people that have actually approached me politely and have taken the time to understand that this blog is about free things teachers can use. A lot of the email pitches I get are for paid services and the sender is hoping I'll make an exception. For the record, the only paid products I've ever endorsed are a few books, my netbook, and Common Craft videos. None of those people pitched me.
Finally, I see a lot of things each week on Twitter and on great blogs like Larry Ferlazzo's, Kelly Tenkely's, and Kevin Jarrett's. If I see something on Twitter that has already been reTweeted hundreds of times, in a lot of cases I'll simply reTweet it myself. Things that I see on other's blogs I'll often just Tweet about. Sometimes I blog about those things later, but I generally think that there is so much great stuff on the web that I don't need to repeat what someone else in the niche has already said that day.
What is your criteria for choosing blog topics?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
How I Pick Blog Topics
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6 comments:
Early on in my blogging career (13 months ago), I decided that I was only going to blog about tech used in my educational setting (7th grade - large middle school). I don't have time to blog about every tech tool out there, but I do feel that if, after I use it in the classroom, good or bad, telling others about it may be helpful.
Professional bloggers always talk about "finding your niche in blogging". I feel that my criteria for blogging only about tech actually used in my classroom is unique and manageable for me.
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I do the same thing. I look at the resource I've found or heard about and then decide how useful it is and how easy to access it is. I also look and see if it was Tweeted or blogged recently. I may take something that was blogged or Tweeted recently and hold onto it and maybe revisit it in a month or so for people who missed it the first time around.
The only things I've blogged about that isn't free have been my Acer Netbook, Palm Pre, some of Discovery Education resources, and some conferences.
I have been approached by PR reps from companies to do reviews of their products and I've done one so far because there was a free version. Otherwise, I haven't done any yet. The product would have to be a great deal and very useful for me to talk about it.
All my teachers K-8 read the blog. I try to make sure what I technology resources I talk about will reach the most audience. Specific subject matter resources, I leave to an email with link. I also look to see if this the link is just another rehash of a similar tool or will it truly enhance or reach a different learning style (delicious vs. livebinder). Ease of use is a number one priority. My teachers all complain about time so I'm not going to suggest something that has a high learning curve.
Richard! Thanks for the shout-out!
Every blogger should have material like this on his 'About' page!
Keep up the great work!
-kj-
Richard, my process is eerily similar to yours. There are a lot of resources that I will never blog about because of too much advertising or unnecessary complication for teachers or students. I generally try to stay away from those tools that have been widely spread on Twitter or other blogs unless I am really inspired about new ways that it could be used in the classroom. I get similar pitches from PR companies trying to get me to bend my rule of only blogging about free tools. They are missing the point! Wish that it wasn't such a time waster to sort through those.
Your blog is a great resource for me and teachers everywhere. We appreciate your sorting through all that is out there and bringing us the best and most useful!
i am a homeschooling mum and i love integrating technology in our homeschooling. So i normally only blog about the things that are suitable for small group/ homeschool setting.
great blog by the way, keep it up!
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