Hi! 💖Are you trying blogging for the first time and don't have a clue? Or have you crossed the threshold of the first exploration but are still struggling to find a breakthrough? Then join me in exploring great examples of blogging! Today we are viewing Nik Peachey's Learning Technology Blog. I'm sure the following will inspire you!
Organization and Layout
Nik's blog has
a black background, and you can see that he focuses on highlighting the content
without unnecessary decorations. The overall page is very clean, divided into
modules but not cluttered and structured. The menu bar at the top and the
gadgets on the right keep the page rich and focused. In addition to the blog's
posts, the blogger's publications and the classroom app he has developed are
also the main focus of his blog, as can be seen from the menu bar.
Content and Features
The main
content of the blog is, as the title of the blog suggests, an introduction to
learning technologies, particularly in relation to the teaching of English.
Each post is tagged with significant keywords, and the title is very
directional. This makes it easier and faster for readers to find the content
they are looking for. What surprised me most was that almost every post ended
with links to some related article. Readers interested in the post can easily
access more resources, which is both convenient and thoughtful.
Ease of Use and Navigation
I found some
flaws in the navigation and ease of use. The list of posts might be of interest
to first-time visitors, but this feature is not displayed in the top menu bar
and requires the reader to scroll down to the end of the latest posts or the
bottom of the right-hand column to access previous posts. Although this is easy to find once you are
familiar with the layout, it is not user-friendly for first-time readers and
can be overwhelming and disorienting when visiting the home page.
Target Audience
The audience
for the blog is listed under the title 'For English Language Teachers'. Nik shares
a number of useful classroom technology tools. In the comments section of his
early blogs, many teachers were inspired or helped by the blog. They were
active in discussing and commenting on the content of the blog and expressing
appreciation, encouragement, and thanks. Updates were also frequent in the
early days. Unfortunately, however, the number of blogs seems to have dropped
massively in recent years, with only one or two posts per year and no comments
below the posts, the latest one being from last March. Perhaps it can be
assumed that the blogger has a new focus or has embarked on a new module and
has no time to update and maintain the blog's posts.
Summary
In short, despite some minor flaws, Nik's blog is still a remarkable example and a great inspiration to me as a whole. I am particularly impressed by the linking of posts-related content, which requires a lot of reading and writing to achieve.
Finally, here's a YouTube clip about blogging to help those of you who are still confused about creating a blog get started, and I look forward to growing with you as a newbie blogger! 💖