An online presence health check
In my earlier post I was trying to sell the idea that (higher ed related) blogging is experiencing a resurgence. This is partly a justification for myself (and to my line managers), because I’ve been on study leave for 2 weeks. Study leave basically means you have a reason to say no to about 50% of the usual meetings. I’ve been writing a research bid, but I’ve also been using that clearer space in the calendar to update my online presence.
This has included:
- Revamping the edtechie.net landing page – this blog is the main site but people do arrive at the main site and it was old and tatty.
- New blog design and template – look at how swish it looks! And easier to read with less clutter I think.
- Creating a newsletter – the post on blogs prompted some discussion about RSS, which may or may not see a resurgence. As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to explore different ways of dissemination now that Twitter is less reliable. So, I have a newsletter which is just a monthly round-up of posts you can subscribe to if you feel your email inbox is lonely.
- Creating a podcast – more on this in the next post, but I’ve finally (about 15 years too late), taken the podcast plunge, with a Metaphors of Ed Tech podcast.
I’m not sure if any of these make much difference, but I would argue (vigorously even) that it is a good use of anyone’s time in higher ed to regularly do an online presence health check and try out new avenues. Mainly for all the reasons I mentioned in the post on blogs, having an effective online presence is an entirely respectable and valid aspect of an overall academic identity and like any other aspect it requires some tending every now and then.
