Electric Chalk is nearly a year old (at least in its current incarnation) and I feel the need to evaluate.

I’m quite pleased with the way the blog looks and the visitor numbers are good (nearing 60,00 hits after 10 months ain’t bad, although I suspect that I only get a few dozen regulars) but I’m a bit demoralised that visits are short and virtually nobody is leaving comments.

I had a few aims when I started:

  • Keep track of all the resources, apps and equipment I came across. I have a useless memory!
  • Experiment with blogging as an educational tool.
  • Keep track of my own professional development.
  • Create a forum for the teachers I work with to share ideas and the outcomes of projects.
  • Contribute to the wider edtech community.

The first 3 I think I’ve done OK with. Aaron and I did experiment with a link directory for all the web2.0 apps and resources sites I came across but it was clunky and no one used it so when we did the latest redesign it joined the d-ed pool. More on this shortly, though.

We’ve successfully used blogging as part of a transition project in the CLC and othe bits and pieces we’ve picked up like Fliggo and Prezi have been invaluable in other ways.

My thoughts about edtech are certainly a lot clearer since starting the blog. Writing opinion pieces forces you to think critically about what you are saying. It’s even helped me to plan out where I think I want to move my career in the next few years.

I”m really disappointed about the last 2, though. I may be a being a bit unfair on myself as I’m comparing myself with some big hitters in the blogging world but the lack of comments does sap the enthusiasm somewhat…

…and I know that has everything to do with the blogger rather than the readers. I perhaps need to particiapte more in discussions on other blogs but I have this chronic problem of writing responses to other people’s posts and then chickening out and not sending them.

So, where now?

I think I can live without comments. I know people are reading the blog and the fact that it’s a useful development tracker makes it worthwhile keeping going. Worrying about comments suggests vanity.

What I’m not so sure about is the bit about keeping track of apps and resources. There are better blogs than mine for reporting the latest stuff to come out (See Free Technology for Teachers or follow @russelltarr or @web20classroom). They’re very prolific and I can’t keep up enough to be adding much value.

With Doug Belshaws’s discussion of heuristics in mind, Aaron and I are hopefully going to put together a searchable directory of education-friendly web2.0 apps that allows people to rate the apps’ usefulness and share classroom experience.

Image credit – http://www.flickr.com/photos/cayusa/