This is my first adventure into the blogging realm. I’m intimidated by the technology but also excited to have a new tool in my belt. I’m so very glad I won’t be alone in my journey as so many of you have paved the way for me and can share your expertise.
I am using MiraCosta’s WordPress installation to complete my blog from home in Laguna Niguel. I actually perform most of my teaching work right here at my home computer in my living room. I teach online geography courses at both Saddleback College and MiraCosta College. Someday I hope to have a fancy office with mahogany bookshelves filled to the brim all around! I love academia, and I also love working in my sweats!
Despite my love of book knowledge and the fact that I teach online, I still find myself resistant to learning new technology. That’s one of the reasons I’m taking this certificate program: to force myself out of my comfort zone and see if/how I can technology can improve my online classes.
I found setting up my blog to be somewhat of a learning curve. I feel I have barely scratched the surface of what I can do with the Dashboard, and I’m looking forward to spending time tweaking the appearance of my blog and checking out all of the bells and whistles. I had a particularly difficult time setting up the spam blocker, and I found that the instructions for obtaining an Akismet key did not correspond with the tutorial. Perhaps they have made some adjustments to the Akismet website? I find this same problem whenever I ask my students to complete online activities: The website changes, and I have to completely revise the assignment instructions. Other than that, I found it relatively easy to set up the blog.