When you start to consider which format you want to do your reflectins in, I would suggest you consider blogging first. This article listing some benefits of blogging was published in 2015, but I think many of the points it makes are still valid. Blogging indeed helps us to refine our writing skills, it helps us to build our professional network and share our knowledge.
As indicated in the assessment description, your learning portfolio doesn't necessarily need to be a blog. It could be that you already blog about other topics and you want to try something new this time around. You are free to do vlogging or even hand in your reflective entries as written offline documents.
You can't of course talk in a vlog or write in a blog the same way you could in a private essay that's going to be seen just by your assessors, but there lies the beauty of it. When you publishing content online, you are at the same time pushing yourself to practice as you preach to behave online.
What I find interesting is that people don’t read blogs the way they did ten years ago. Tamal Anwar Chowdhury raises also many interesting ideas in that post, and to be fair, without his blog I would not know about those. Of course, for many of us, Twitter might be an obvious choice, and it is true that in everyday life microblogging might be easier and quicker. But when it is time to share our deeper reflections, we need a platform that supports that. And even today, blogging seems to be one of the best choices. That article lists many similar tips for writing to what I have written to you about in my 'How to write a good blog post' and 'Reflecting publicly or privately' posts. Hopefully, the world of blogging is an inspiring one and you choose to give it a go.
Alright, if I'll do blogging, which platform should I use?
You might guess that there is no simple answer to "what is the best blogging platform" to use for your reflective entries. Some of you might want to stick with the one you already know, and some want to try a new one. For some of you, this might be the first time you ever blog.
Which is the best platform for you as always depends on the context and content. It is good to keep in mind that you might have also different requirements when you are choosing blogging platforms for class use. While there are numerous free and easy-to-use blogging platforms available, here are some of the most popular platforms to help you to make that decision now that you'll be writing some reflective entries about your own learning journey.
Blogger - A free blog publishing tool from Google. You can set up as many blogs as you want, and right from your Google account. If you choose Blogger reading the XXx post might be healful to get started.
WordPress - This offers two options, so you'll need to choose between the fully hosted WordPress.com and the self-hosted version, WordPress.org. The fully hosted version is definitely the easiest one to start with.
Weebly - Many teachers have chosen Weebly for creating free classroom websites, student e-portfolios, and websites for assigned projects. You can also make blogs with it, even if Blogger and WordPress might be more commonly used.
WIX - If you choose this to be your publishing platform you could start from their A Complete Guide to Blogging in 2020 -page.
Substack - This tool was originally created for newsletters, but it can actually help you to create a publication that combines a personal website, blog, and email newsletter or podcast. This would be a good tool to create an online audience you really want to connect with if that is your true goal!
There are many other tools and platforms in addition to those listed above. Most of the blogging platforms are similar enough that once you have learned to use one, you know how to use the others.
If you are new to blogging I would strongly recommend you try it out.
If you are starting from scratch here is an introduction from Dr. David Parsons.
References:
Byrne, R. (2016, February 19) 7 Blogging Platforms for Teachers Compared and Ranked. https://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/02/7-blogging-platforms-for-teachers.html
Chowdhury, T. A. (2020, May 11). Should I Blog in 2020? is Blogging Dead? https://blogkori.com/state-of-blogging
Dekmezian, G. (2015, September 23). Why Do People Blog? The Benefits of Blogging. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-do-people-blog-the-be_b_8178624
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.) Vlog. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vlog
EDIT: Substack part added on 1.5.2023
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