Personal Learning Diary

Keeping in Touch!

“What is a blog?” I remember asking myself this question quite a lot of years ago when I first heard the term. Then I just went online and checked some travel blogs. They were different from the regular websites that I was familiar with. The bloggers were writing from time to time, and sharing their travel experiences through these blogs. Later, I discovered that it was in fact free and easy to have a blog and write in a blog. That was the point when I created my first personal blog on Blogger.com.

I was excited when I first learned that we were supposed to keep a blog about our practicum experience this year. I have tried to keep my blog as active as possible since the beginning of the term. In my opinion, the idea of having a blog gives us the impression that the work we are doing this term is a professional work, and it should be something worth sharing with other people. For me, the basic aim of blogging is this: sharing with others, and helping people take advantage of your own experience. As a result, I have tried to post everything I have made use of this term in my blog. Also, blogs provide us with a good frame where we can see and evaluate our own work. It is good to see all of your work neatly placed in a blog- this helps us to make self-evaluations as well.

Lastly, I see the blogs as a step towards professional development. All of the ELT professionals I have met in The Third International ELT Students Conference and the other conferences have professional blogs which they keep really active. Sharing their ideas on their blogs help these people get instant feedback from their colleagues and their followers. Most of the bloggers reply to the comments they take from other people. We also were able to get some feedback from our peers thorough the help of our blogs and evaluate our own work with the help of others.

Blogs are a great way of representing yourself and your work in the digital life. They allow us to share not only words but also videos, pictures and other online sources. In that sense, I see them as an invaluable source both for the bloggers and for the blog readers. Starting to blog from our practicum will be an advantage for our later professional life as we will have a source which allows us to keep the track of our own professional development from the very beginning of our career. In this sense, I see the blogs as a way of monitoring yourself and keeping in touch with the others.