Overall, I feel my views towards blogging have brightened slightly since my initial apprehensions towards the medium. Having used this blog sporadically over time, my attentions have been drawn to the plethora of other blogs available. I can see the appeal of blogging for some groups or individuals, but feel they exist in a niche which are consuquently nothing without an audience. Due the over-supply of blogs, any voice or opinion expressed is done so at a whisper. They are easily brushed aside, missed or ignored.
Nevertheless, I would consider blogging in the Primary classroom in the future, providing I could guarantee an audience for my bloggers. For example, perhaps setting up links with schools in other cities or countries would be a provide a great opportunity to find out about other cultures. They are also a useful way to improve links between school and home.
As a tool for reflection, I cannot say I feel the blog has any major advantages over any other medium for recording reflection. While they cut down on paper and give opportunities to hyperlink, blogging hasn't made me into any more a reflective practitioner than the written reflective journals have in Teaching and Learning. I feel my reflective skills have improved over the course because we are heavily encouraged to do so and because I feel it is an invaluable exercise which leads to improvement. I cannot say that blogging has necessarily contributed to this though.
I feel blogging has the potential to be a more useful tool if used in the spirit I presume Monty wished us to use them. On the course, I gained the most out of my reflections by talking about them with my CTM, Link tutor and friends on the course. Blogging would become useful in this way if small groups had been established in the beginning, forcing us to read, comment upon and discuss colleague's blogs. Due to the intense nature of the course, this unfortunately did not happen (probably our fault I know!!!). While this perhaps could be a useful idea to enforce for future trainees, blogging has not been a fruitless exercise for me. It has made me clarify and consider my ideas in order to reflect with colleagues face-to-face.
