Infographic: Blog Statistics

I have been blogging on the Electric Educator since 2008. It's always interesting to take a look at the statistics of the blog: readers, browsers, operating systems, and locations. This is an interesting way to observe changes in computing technology (mobile visitors were very rare when I began blogging) and to better understand the global reach of the Internet. 

I assembled this infographic in Google Docs Drawing using screen shots from Google Analytics and the Blogger Statistics page. The wordcloud was generated using Wordle.

If you feel inspired to create a similar post on your blog, please leave a link so that I can take a look! 

Tips for Refreshing your Blogger Blog

I have been working on a redesign for my blog for some time now. I thought that I'd outline my process and some of the resources that I used to help others who are considering starting or re-designing their blog.

The Electric Educator is powered by Blogger, Google's blog platform. Blogger is a simple and robust platform that is very user friendly. Wordpress is the favorite platform for blogs however it can be a bit overwhelming for new users. Blogger has fewer bells and whistles, but for straight blogging, it's an excellent choice. An additional plus is its integration with other Google products such as YouTube, Picassa, and Docs. 

When I first decided it was time for a design refresh I was interested in purchasing a pre-made template to "skin" my blog or hiring a designer to redesign the blog for me. I was surprised at the difficulty I had in finding pre-made themes (I found none) or experienced designers who work on the Blogger platform (I found no one). Thus I was forced to plan and execute the redesign on my own.

Blogger does feature some very modern and sophisticated templates which are highly customizable. My blog is based off of the theme "Awesome Inc." which includes six color variations. This, and most other Blogger themes includes a mobile optimized template as well. This is extremely important for anyone with a blog as mobile views continue to increase. Roughly 12% of traffic to this blog is on mobile devices.

After choosing my theme, I had to determine the layout of the blog. Blogger themes contain a range of layouts-- 1 column, 2 column, 3 column, left sidebar, right sidebar, etc. You can also adjust the width of each layout area down to the pixel. After doing a bit of research I determined that the optimal total width for a blog is 900-950 pixels. This ensures maximum readability regardless of the screen size of the viewer.

The primary content column on The Electric Educator has a width of 600 pixels. The right sidebar is 350 pixels. My previous design included both a left and right sidebar, squeezing the content into a smaller area to make room for the extra side-space. I determined that I wanted to make my posts the focal point and eliminated one of the sidebars to remove clutter and distraction.

The Electric Educator, August 2010
Screen Shot courtesy of the Internet Archive "Wayback Machine"

Another thing to consider when choosing your layout width is the media which you embed into your blog. I include a lot of YouTube videos on my blog. The smallest standard embed size for a YouTube video is 560 pixels wide. I wanted to ensure that I could fit a video in without having to manually adjust the size of the embed code.

I was uncomfortable tinkering with the design of this blog before I had determined the final layout and had all of the artwork available and ready to post. As a work-around, I created a new blog that I called "test-electriceducator" to fiddle with the design and settings. Blogger allows you to download a full copy of the HTML and CSS for your blog in order to back it up. I simply downloaded my old template and restored it on the test site so that I could play around with some new design ideas before posting everything live on this site.

As you can see I have heavily styled my blog using a base design that was created for me by freelance artist Maria of Style Graphic Design. I connected with Maria via Etsy on the recommendation of my wife who also had a logo designed. Maria did an outstanding job in creating several design concepts and adjusting the design based on my feedback. I would highly recommend her services.

My blog masthead and social media icons were designed by a firm out of India that I contracted through Elance.com. Although I am pleased with the final product, I was not satisfied by the interaction and customer service of the firm with which I worked. I would, however, recommend checking out Elance which brings together freelance designers, writers, artists, and anything else you can imagine for hire by people who need to get work done.

I have removed most of the widgets and gadgets that were present on my old theme. I was using a Twitter gadget, Feedjit, Friend Connect, and a host of other plugins. I found that this slowed down the overall load time of the site. The new design is very clean with simple button links to my various social media outlets.

I am pleased with the look of the new design. I think that it captures the essence of my writings and personal mission to advance educational technology. Blogger remains a solid choice for my blog. I don't feel hindered by the platform and enjoy the simplicity of the interface.

I began posting on the Electric Educator on Christmas day in 2008. Since then I have written over 200 posts which have had over 120,000 viewers. I never expected this blog to become such an important part of my professional development. This blog has allowed me to interact with a variety of people all over the world. Thanks for being a reader! I hope the new redesign makes it even easier to read, comment, and share.

Blogging in the Classroom

I just finished taking a course on supervision of instruction through Liberty University. As part of the class I completed some research on the affect of blogging on student achievement. In my research I reviewed five studies, three quantitative and two qualitative. From this literature I drew some general conclusions about how blogging can influence student achievement and make suggestions for the successful implementation of a blogging project in a classroom.

For those of you who blog in your classroom, take heart! The research suggests that blogging has a positive impact on your students!

The effects of podcasting

The chemistry teacher in the classroom next to me passed on an interesting article that she found in the Journal of College Science Teachers. The title of the article is "Analysis of Students' downloading of Online Audio Lecture Recordings in a Large Biology Lecture Course." The article is available (PDF) directly from the Author, Brian T. White.

The article was of interest to me because I am currently working on creating podcasts which I hope will help my students better understand the labs that we do in class. It is my intention that they watch my video podcasts before class so that they are familiar with the procedures needed in the lab. There has been lots of hype surrounding podcasts, but this is the only quantitative research that I have seen that addresses the benefits of using podcasts to enhance learning. Although the research conducted by White was done in a college setting, the implications will apply to a high school setting as well. 

The purpose of this small study (185 students) was to determine how college students use lecture podcast and to determine if the availability of podcast decreased lecture attendance. White concluded that most students used the podcasts to prepare for exams and did not use them to prepare for class or to review after class. No significant link was found between the number of weekly podcast downloads and lecture attendance. 

For me, these results suggest that my students may not be as likely to listen to and watch my podcasts before they attend class, as I have intended. They are more likely to use them to review before a test. As attendance in high school is compulsory, I won't have to worry about students skipping class! 

White's article helps separate the hype of podcasting from the benefits of the technology. Technology shouldn't be use simply because it is available, it should be used because it serves a need and enhances student learning. More research on podcasting will help determine how effective this technology is in helping students learn. 

The Best Podcasts on the web...and why

 I love podcasts. They're free. They're educational. They're entertaining.

Podcasts themselves aren't exactly an earth shattering idea. Essentially they are simply on-demand radio broadcasts. What makes them so cool, however is the organization and portability that Apple has brought to them through the introduction of the iPod and iTunes. Although you don't need an iPod or iTunes to enjoy podcasts, these two innovations brought about an explosion of podcasts. 

The expansion of podcasts is rapidly increasing because of two new innovations by the creative minds at Apple. The first is the introduction of iTunesU- a special channel devoted specifically to podcasts created by colleges and universities. The idea began as a partnership between Apple and Stanford University. The idea was such a smashing success that Apple decided to open an official iTunesU channel. There are now thousands of universities represented on iTunesU. Hopefully the students of these universities aren't skipping class and listening to their lectures on their iPods!

After iTunesU, Apple decided to expand its educational offerings, opening iTunesU K-12 for "lower" educational institutions. This iTunes channel is brand new and has very little content at the moment. However if the past performance of iTunesU is any indication of future results, this section of iTunesU will soon be teeming with tons of terrific podcasts! 

While iTunesU K-12 is a great addition to podcasting, it's not the second innovation that has made podcasts so popular and useful. If a picture is worth a thousand words, than a enhanced podcast must be worth a thousand hours of traditional podcasts! With the addition of the video iPod, Apple also enabled individuals and organizations to create enhance podcasts which incorporate audio, video, and pictures. 

Watching an enhanced podcast is like watching on-demand educational TV in the palm of your hand! It's a great innovation and has vastly increased the popularity and usefulness of podcasts.

Listening to and watching podcasts can be a great way to learn new things and entertain yourself on long bus rides or while doing your taxes, however not every podcast is worth listening to or watching. The self-publishing aspect of the internet is a double edged sword: everyone has a voice, however not everyone has something to say. There are some great podcasts and there are some bad ones. 

To help you wade through the myriad of options out there, I present you you my top five podcasts: 

1. The Dave Ramsey Show

Dave Ramsey is a national radio host and best selling author who has the ability to make talking about financial topics interesting and fun. Dave is the Dr. Phil of finance. He tells it like it is and has a no-nonsense approach to life's challenges. The podcast version of the Dave Ramsey Show is 40 minutes long and is commercial free. 

Why I like it: 

• Entertaining host.
• Excellent information.
• Unsurpassed technical quality (audio quality, frequency of new episodes, RSS feed).

2. Free Is Good

Frank Miracola is the author of the Free is Good podcast which focuses on innovative, helpful, and free tools that teachers can use in the classroom. As a teacher myself, I have used several of the free software and web utilities that Frank has demonstrated on this podcast. Free Is Good is a great example of an enhanced podcast. Frank uses video, screenshots, and still pictures to demonstrate the use and utility of the resources he highlights. 

Why I like it:

• Practical information that is easily used. 
• Episodes are short and concise (usually less than 10min). 
• Videos show exactly how to use the resources. 
• Quality is very good. 

3. Science Friday from NPR

Ira Flatow is the host of the NPR program heard every Friday around the country which highlights science topics from astronomy to biology. Interesting guests and an engaging host make this a podcast worth listening too. 

Why I like it:

• Wide range of scientific topics-- you never know what you're going to get!
• Podcast episodes are divided by topic and are very clearly titled. This enables you to select the episodes that are of interest to you.

4. Ravi Zacharias International Ministries

Dr. Ravi Zacharias is a Christian philosopher, apologist and master orator whose confidence and clarity rivals that of C.S. Lewis. Ravi offers two podcasts- "Just thinking," a 15-minute daily podcast, and "Let My People Think," a 30-minute weekly podcast. Both provide challenging content that makes you think about life's greatest issues. 

Although these are both great podcasts, I should point out that neither is listed through iTunes. In order to subscribe, you will need to manually add the RSS feed provided here to iTunes.

Why I like it: 

• Short podcasts that take a long time to ponder. 
• Passionate delivery.
• Timely and relevant messages.

5. North Point Ministries: Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley is the pastor of North Point Community Church located outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Andy is a up and coming author and speaker in the Christian community. I particularly enjoy Andy's perspective on leadership. His book Next Generation Leader was a great inspiration to me when I read it this past summer. 

Why I like it: 

• Lots of dry, witty humor.
• Practical lessons for daily living. 
• Examples of leadership.

That's what's on my iPod. As I discover new, interesting podcast I'll be sure to post them here!