For someone who has been blogging since high school, I was
actually thrilled when our Clinical Chemistry professor told us that
EduBlogging will be one of our requirements. I was excited since I really love
customizing and doing blog-related stuff…in my case, it’s like doing something
you love and earning points for it. But then, it hit me. I realized that I have
never blogged anything about endocrinology, toxicology, or anything related to
my future profession in my 5 years of blogging. As soon as I thought of this, I
knew I won’t do well.
And as I was doing my first post, I realized that this is
very much different from the usual blogging which I’m used to doing. But since
it’s a REQUIREMENT, I needed to do it. And so I was one of the last people who
posts one minute before the deadline. Yes, I’m exaggerating. But the point is, it
suddenly became something new for me. But that didn’t stop me. I took it
seriously and unexpectedly, I learned a lot from it. With that being said, I’d
like to share a few NEW things I learned and did in EduBlogging, which makes it
different from my usual personal blogging:
EduBlogging is not just about writing what you feel or what
you want. It’s not about writing what you did throughout the day… it’s about
writing what you’ve LEARNED. You can’t just post whatever you want. You need to
listen, read, and read more to be able to do a blog post. Unlike personal
blogs, one post takes lots of reading and listening to be able to make one. As
they say, patience is a virtue. You need patience to be able to do a single
post. You need to be careful not to give out wrong information.
Yes, thick. EduBlogging is based on books, journals, and
what we learn inside the classroom. We don’t base our posts what we want to
write, or what other people want On my personal blog, I express myself freely
on how I actually act in reality. People are different… in actions, in words,
and in interests. There may be people who would agree with you, and there will
always be someone who would disagree. There are no right or wrong posts; it’s
just that you can’t please everybody… that’s for personal blogs. But in
EduBlogging, there ARE wrong posts. You can’t just post any information that
you, yourself, are not sure of. If so,
you might end up giving the wrong information to other people. We need
references for this. It’s not what you think is right. It’s WHAT IS RIGHT. It’s
not exactly about pleasing everybody, though. It’s about giving the right
information to everybody.
Reblogging is not a crime, but plagiarism is. Unlike on
other blog types where you are free to reblog and post photos, videos, and
quotes, you can’t just put anything on your blog which is originally from
another blog. Come to think of it, even personal blogs give credit to the
owners. No, you can’t just copy something and paste it on your blog. Admit it,
we don’t really learn anything for the “copy-paste” thing. EduBlogging is about
learning. Not just for the readers, but for the writers, too. What’s the sense
of the “Edu” in Edublogging if you don’t learn anything from it… even the basic
rule “DO NOT COPY”?
. In my personal blog, a photo post without a caption is
enough to show what I love or what I did. And there are actually people who are
after the images, not on words. And long paragraphs might just scare them away.
But in EduBlogging, there will always be a deeper meaning behind every photo
you include in your post. Explanation is the key. And it’s okay to have a long
one. As long as you give much information as your readers will need. You wouldn’t
want to confuse your readers on why that certain photo is included in your
post. Share everything you know. As long as it’s right, of course.
If you’re doing an EduBlog without having fun reading,
browsing and thinking of ways on how to make your post interesting and
informative at the same time, might as well give it up. This might be one of
the few similarities on why bloggers blog. It’s about having fun and making
your readers satisfied and happy when they read your posts. And when you do,
good information, great feedbacks, good grades, and incentives will come along.
I have always considered my personal blog, scarletpotion, as
my masterpiece. But ccblognotebyfaith, for me, is an achievement and is
something that I can be proud of. It helped me learn not just things about
endocrinology and toxicology, but also about formal writing, and giving out
good information. EduBlogging is definitely BLOGGING... WITH A TWIST!
To our professor who encouraged us to do this, you always
tell us to keep it up. But now, let me be the one to say this, KEEP IT UP, MA’AM.
You have taught us a lot with this activity… not just about Clinical Chemistry,
but also how we need patience, understanding and perseverance. THANK YOU. J
