I have to start this posting with an apology to Glenn. He asked me to answer these question back on September 3 and I am only now getting around to it.

When did you begin blogging. What were your reasons?

I can't remember exactly when I started posting to blogs. It was before I started the MDE program in 2005 because I remember that I created a blog as a great way to share my own thoughts and experiences as a technology teacher in a junior high school. I think I was at a stage in my career where I was getting frustrated by the barriers I encountered in education to technology. Too many to list here but I was also not happy with how difficult technology was for teachers to use in their classrooms and I wanted to share some of the things I had learned and try to encourage the integration of technology as a teaching tool in the classroom.

At that time, a lot of teachers were less than enthusiastic about using technology (a lack of PD and training) and I felt I was going around with a target on my back all the time. I was the tech guy and responsible for a lot of technology initiatives and teachers associated the frustration they felt with me. My how things have changed. I'm one of the most popular teachers around nowadays. Seems everyone wants to be friendly with a tech geek. :>)

Has your blogging changed over this time? How? (topics, focus, frequency,
etc.)

The technology has advanced so much that it is a lot easier now to blog than it was years ago.  There are a lot more choices and embedding audio, video, and graphics is much easier. We would never have considered adding audio and video to our postings before. It was a nightmare. Pcitures were bad enough.

I think the establishment of social communities have changed the way we blog. Before you would be lucky if anyone ever read anything you posted, but by posting to an online community, like The Landing (and it's predecessor, Me2U) where people share common interests, you get your ideas, questions, and comments reaching more people that often share your interests.

The frquency of my postings has changed. I don't post as much as I did when I was taking courses. When taking courses, it was a great way to ask questions and share resources with other, but now that I am finished I don't have the motivation I once had. That combined with a hectic life as a junior high technology teacher has resulted in my being less active. I am more active on Twitter (@tomshepp) than blogs because I find it more useful for connecting to a wider range of people in the edtech field.

How has blogging helped you with learning?

I found blogging useful for expressing my thoughts about theories and concepts in education, distance learning, and technology. I found it really good to get feedback on topics that I was confused about and many of my collegues responded with excellent advice. I was disppointed more profs did not use Me2U as an adjunct for their courses. As a teacher I know what the workload issues are and understood, but I treated blogging like a more informal place to express incomplete thoughts and concepts. I did not mind being wrong. I was less likely to do this on the discussion board for a course in Moodle.

What are the main reasons you have persisted in blogging?

I still consider it valuable even though I am less active. I guess I need more motivation. I use it more with my teaching for students and in my role as a provincial organizers for NXT robotics in Newfoundland and Labrador. I really think it can be a valuable teaching tool.

How do you think your blogging activity will change in future?

I think the trend is towards integrating your online presence into one platform. People get tired of using multiple web 2.0 technologies. It is a lot of passwords and usernames to remember and logging into all those can be a pain. I keep longing for one platform where I can do everything. I think The Landing is close but I'm not sure about using it for all my interest outside of distance learning.

How has the Landing influenced your blogging?

I came from the Me2U experience and imported a lot of my postings into The Landing. I was not willing to go through all the trouble I went through with the Me2U and invest a lot of my time into The Landing when I was at the end of my MDE program. I think if I were still doing courses I would be very active on it. I may return to it again yet, but I need a compelling reason to do so. I have recently setup my own site and more interested in developing my blogging on that platform. I would be interested in having my post imported into The Landing from taht platform but I have not looked into how to do this. It did not work for me in Me2U.