Edublogs: What Works, and What Needs Work

First of all, anyone who puts their name on something that tries to add value to the internet, deserves some credit. The internet is an incredibly deep space, and there is a great deal of worthwhile, moving, important, relevant content available. The internet also has massive amounts of junk. The blogs profiled here are not junk. They both contain valuable and useful content. Unfortunately, even with the best intentions in mind, that content is not always delivered effectively.

First, a blog that works: Alfred Thompson's blog simply entitled Computer Science Teacher. According to his website, Thompson is a teacher, speaker, and software developer who worked at Microsoft for 9+ years before returning to the classroom. His blog includes posts relating his experience working with students and trying to communicate to others how to motivate their own students. He also has posts with useful links and photos about teaching computer science.

The layout is simple but effective. He uses a pleasant background scene that helps the blog feel authentic while not distracting. His header is simple, yet bold. He uses a simple font that is large enough for easy readability. He also uses his sidebar effectively. It includes helpful links to both his own and others' content. He also has a photo of himself. I'm starting to realize that including a photo adds a sense of professionalism to a blog. It has led me to add my own photo and throw a background up. I am not sure yet if it's perfect, but my hope is that it's a step in the right direction.

Thompson does a good job of communicating how important it is to not only teach computer science effectively, but also to keep students motivated about the subject matter. Programming is not always easy, and there are so many topics and languages from which to choose. Recent articles cover topics including:

1. A post relating a story about how students need to feel encouraged, and not discouraged by the computer science classes offered.
2. How to help students learn by keeping code readable, including a story about how he didn't quite take his own advice.
3. A post about the danger of making assumptions on what makes a good programmer.

Thompson's blog is simple and effective. It is easy to read, contains useful content, and is relatable. Well done!

The next blog is Ms. Meeks: Computer Science Teacher. On the sidebar, Ms. Caroline Meeks introduces herself as a computer science teacher at a charter school in Massachusetts. Her blog includes reflections on units and lessons taught in her classroom. Unfortunately after the top of the page, I had trouble reading Meeks' blog.

At first blush, the blog looks great. It has a nice template. The watercolor image and background are very pleasing. Her text looks readable. But as I scrolled down the page, it washed out. The font style and size changed jarringly between blog posts making reading difficult. The lack of background or framing as I scrolled down the page also made the blog look unprofessional.

The blog also contained some editing mistakes. This included spelling mistakes, typos, and templating issues including not linking a whole word and a numbered list that was not numbered properly. I know that I am not immune to the occasional typo, but worthwhile content deserves to be edited and checked. Rereading a post before pressing publish should always be a priority (preferably after taking a break). Getting a second pair of eyes on a post before pressing publish is even better. Even without a paid editor, a friend, family member, colleague, or classmate will do in a pinch.

Meeks uses some images in her posts, but not a lot. There are also a few posts that are downloadable links. She includes the QR code with these. The QR code could be useful to some, but it felt a little out of place. The content of the blog can be very useful. She is sharing and reflecting on her lessons. This is surely valuable for her and other teachers, but she does not make it easy for the reader.

Blogs are everywhere, and they cover all kinds of content. For a blog to be successful and useful, it needs to blend good content into a good design. That was accomplished by Alfred Thompson, and I will continue to check his blog. I may revisit Caroline Meeks' blog because there is valuable content there, but I may not enjoy the experience as much as I'd like.