Blogging4Life - Part 2

Last week I posted this article, showing "Why I Started Blogging" which was inspired by educator friends whom I've met over the past 12 years.

Today I'll answer two additional questions.

What platform are you using to manage your blog and why do you use it?

I started my blog on Blogger.com in 2005 and continue to use it today. It is easy for me to use and because it has an archive of images, I’m able to write new articles using images I added in the past.  

I'm also able to find all of my past articles using the Internet Archive.  That means in the future, others will still be able to find what I've written, even if Blogger.com shuts down.  Of course, I suspect most of the links I point to will no longer work. 

Have you blogged on other platforms before?

Yes. Many. 

I started networking on the Ning.com platform in 2007 when it was free and did a great job of connecting networks.  One of the first groups I joined was Classroom2.0, a place for educators to share ideas.  Here's the first article I posted there, in 2007.

Then, in 2007 I created a TutorMentorConnection.ning.com site.  Each member has a blog and I've used it since then, even though it changed its format and is less valuable from a networking perspective than originally.  This link points to blogs posted on the site, by myself and others. 

I launched a Tutor/Mentor Exchange blog on Wordpress in 2016. My original goal was to focus more on the broader information-based problem solving strategies that are at the heart of the strategies I share. However, I’ve not used it often in the past few years. 

I have a Tutor/Mentor Connection blog on Tumblr that pulls from my Wordpress blog -  I also have a Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC page on Tumblr.com where I share articles from my main blog.

I have also posted a few times on Medium 

In addition, I've posted guest articles in several places. In 2015 I poste five articles on the I-Open blog, serving Cleveland, Ohio. These are all archives now. Here's one. 

I've asked interns and staff who worked for me to write blogs showing what they were doing and what they were learning.  The graphic below is part of a network analysis project done in 2012 by two interns from South Korea, via IIT in Chicago, showing the growth of the Ning network since 2007.  This article on the T/MC Intern blog shows that work. 

From 2007 to 2011 we employed Northwestern University graduates through their Public Interest Program. I asked each to blog their experiences and you can find those on this site. 

The Intern blog, also hosted on Blogger.com, was created in 2007 by Michael Tam, an intern from Hong Kong. Here's a post of his from August 2006 that shows what he was learning.  If you read posts by other interns you'll see similar experiences. 

While we started creating map stories using donated ESRI software in 1994 I never had the money to hire anyone to build maps consistently until late 2007 when an anonymous donor gave $50,000 to rebuild the mapping capacity.  We hired Mike Trakan and he began the MappingforJustice blog (also on Blogger.com) in January 2008. Here is his first post. 

If you read Mike's 2008 to 2010 articles you can see many maps created using ESRI software. You can also see how he guided the efforts of a team from India who built an interactive, map-based, Tutor/Mentor Program Locator for us in 2008-9. This article is an example. 

Mike created so many map stories that I asked him to build a site that served as a "map gallery".  The image at the right shows what he built. It's now an archive, but can be seen here.

Since 2011 I've been writing article on the mapping blog. Some were stories created using the Program Locator, such as this one.  Most have showed how others are using maps to tell stories, such as this article. 

When we  created the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993 we also were launching a new site-based tutor/mentor program to help 7th and 8th graders move through high school. We called it Cabrini Connections and I led it until mid 2011.

I encouraged staff, students and volunteers at Cabrini Connections and the T/MC to also write blogs. Thus, if you visit cabriniblog.blogspot.com you can read blog articles posted by myself and our tutor/mentor program staff leaders between 2006 and 2011, as well as by students and leaders of our technology, arts, writing and video clubs. 

Here's an article from the Tech Club, showing how students and volunteers entered a team in the Cabrini Madness fund raising event. The Tech Club was led by Mike Trakan, our GIS mapping expert.  

The Cabrini Blog and our student and intern blogs were also hosted on Blogger.com.  

That's it for today.  What I've shown in the first two Blogging4Life posts is a long-term commitment to using blogs to share information and influence the actions of others. I keep urging others to do the same and offer my articles as inspiration for what they might write. 

I'll post one final article next week in this Blogging4Life series.  

I hope you are inspired to create your own blog and use it to influence change and well-being in the world. It's a medium you can control.  

Let's connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, BlueSky, Mastodon or other social media platforms. See links here.

Furthermore, if you're able and willing, please help me pay the bills. Visit this page and help fund my work.