Guest Post: Martin Weller on Blogging (again)
We are excited to share the next in a series of guest blog posts. This one was written by Martin Weller .
As part of Reclaim Hosting’s “On Writing” series, I had a chat with Jim Groom about my 20 years of blogging.
Kudos to Jim for this series by the way, it’s fascinating to hear people like Kate Bowles talk about the role that writing plays in her life. During our conversation, I tried to impose a series of phases on my blogging life. You can always slice these things different ways, but here what I came up with:
Finding voice – at the start it took me a few false steps to try and find a voice I was comfortable. I think sometimes I was trying to be edgy, “Look I’ve got a hot take”, which afflicts many people when they set out online, or to comment on things that didn’t fit with the blog. This was in essence a period of trying to establish an identity for the blog. (2006-2008)
Digital and open scholarship – back when all this stuff was still new and exciting I was interested in the general question “what does this mean for academia?”. In particular the removal of barriers, the highly connected world and the possibilities for generating, sharing and discussing knowledge. It was probably a bit optimistic and naive at the time, but it was an interesting era to explore. (2008-2012)
MOOCs – in some ways MOOCs were the big ed tech thing (apart from the internet itself) that happened in my time and that I was involved with, and although it was often a bit silly, it was also fun to be part of this previously niche world that suddenly had the media spotlight. (2012-2014)
Amateur historian and critic – By around 2015 I had been around long enough, particularly in the historically forgetful world of ed tech, that I could comment on the new thing, and show arcs of development. (2015 – 2019)
Pandemic support – when the pandemic hit there was the whole online pivot thing and having a blog and reputation offered a vehicle for commenting on developments, and offering advice to those who were having to shift online. (2020-2022)
More personal shift – the focus of the blog became less about ed tech, and the more personal elements increased. During this time I began to do my monthly round-ups, which mainly mention books and vinyl. (2022-2024)
Post-OU – now that I am no longer at the Open University, UK (OU) and not as fully engaged in ed tech, I’m not sure if it will have a main focus eg writing or continue to be experimental. I feel it has come full circle really, as I’m back to finding an identity and voice. (2024 – ? ).
I also pondered what functions blogging has provided for me over the years.
- Continuity – as an individual you persist across multiple organisations, roles and jobs. Although I stayed in one institution, I had many roles and the blog wasn’t associated with one specific project. Now I have left it continues.
- Holistic – you can blog about one topic, but over time I think some personality will creep in. You are not just one thing, you have a personal life, tastes, interests etc which will all feed into what you do. A blog allows this more rounded representation.
- Experimentation – there is relatively low cost and risk for much of it (this may not be the case for many people online, we need to acknowledge), so you can try things, and if they don’t work, so what? Also you can try formats that conventional outlets might not be appropriate for.
- Development – the blog has been both an intentional and unintentional vehicle for working up ideas, documenting the process and getting feedback, which have led to more substantial outputs, such as books, project proposals and papers. Most importantly though it has been the means through which I have continually developed writing.
- Connecting – particularly in those halcyon early days, it was a good way of finding others, working on ideas together, sharing something of yourself. A lot of my career related personal friendships have resulted from blogging.
- Publicity – I became at one point (the OU crisis of 2018) something of a public voice of the OU, and have often used the blog for projects such as GO-GN
That’s not a bad return for a lil’ ol’ blog. I couldn’t say the same for academic journals.
Meet our guest blogger
Martin Weller is Emeritus Professor Educational Technology at the Open University, UK, where he worked from 1995 to 2024. Martin chaired the OU's first major online course in 1999, and pursued his interest in Digital Scholarship, educational technology, open education and impact of new technologies. He has authored several books, including 25 Years of Ed Tech and Metaphors of Ed Tech, which are available under an open access licence. Martin is now semi-retired and continues to work in Educational Technology as an independent advisor. He's just about to publish his first fiction book, The Recluse Rules.
