I have been using the blogging tool for more than a year now in Me2U.

I am doing some independent studies on the topic of edublogging, and here are some tips for starting blogging on what to write about, and how to get started.

1. Take a look at some exemplars of exceptional blogging by top academics in the field.

Here are some edublogs outside Me2U: (I did a search of blogsearch.com for these addresses.)

Terry Anderson (a Professor at AU)

http://terrya.edublogs.org/

Terry Anderson's edublog has a number of useful features, tools that can help you dig deeper for other sources. Hi blog has a recent comments section, and multiple ways for you to search his content:

• Categories
• Blog post archives
• Search textbox
• Tag cloud

Stephen Downes (global edublogger)

http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/

George Siemens (another Professor who has newly joined AU)

http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/

George Siemens' edublog has a number of useful tools for newcomers:

• Categories section
• Recent comments list
• Search textbox
• Tag Cloud

Tony Bates (reputed academic; author of DE textbooks used in MDE program)

http://www.tonybates.ca/

Once you find a post you want to read, also pay close attention to embedded links or references so you can follow-up or click-through and bookmark them for later use.

Another suggestion in finding resources is to google your Professor for the AU faculty page.

For example, Heather Kanuka has her faculty page at http://cde.athabascau.ca/faculty/heatherk.php

It lists her publications, some of which are accessible online. It also has her email address listed on the page if you wish to use email to contact her.

You can also take a look at my older edublog using Wordpress at netizenship.edublogs.org

I include a vision statement, a summary of the purpose for the edublog. I also include the following features for visitors:

• Blog roll of a couple useful blogs (I need to update this more - let me know if you have suggestions)
• Links to delicious bookmarks
• Post Categories
• Tag cloud