Changes

I had grand ambitions to post more often, but as you can see there has been quite a long delay from my last post to this one. I can blame that on recent developments but really the absence of my posts lies in two areas: my impressive laziness, and my intimidation that I don't really feel like I have a lot more to add to the already impressive bloggers' content available.

My first excuse. Since my last post, I have had a lot on my plate. I accepted a new position as an English instructor at Yeungnam University in Daegu, South Korea. I have felt for some time that I am ready for a change. I won't go into as lengthy or as impressive an analysis as Tamas did, suffice to say that I was ready for a new challenge and I didn't see my professional development being encouraged or supported by my previous institution. There are promises from the new institution that professional development is encouraged and to an extent required, through in-house seminars, peer observation as well as a faculty journal. I am very excited by this and I feel it will help me gain the confidence I need to start presenting and hopefully publishing in the academic world. I will keep you posted as I get closer to participating in these programs.

My second excuse. Laziness. I suppose others might not call me lazy. I am a new father, I am a full time MA TESOL/TEFL student through the distance learning program with the University of Birmingham, as well as working full time (although now I am on vacation). But I repeatedly want to compare myself to others in my PLN, and I find it staggering the pace that they are able to produce content, maintain a steady rate of Tweets, and go about whatever regular work they pursue, excellent examples: Larry, Shelly, Karenne, or Jason, to name only a few. Comparing myself to them I feel like I am standing still, or in reality playing too much Doodlejump on my iPhone. Which brings me to my last excuse.

Intimidation. I suppose this is a concern for a great many of us new bloggers, and maybe even for some of the more experienced as well. However, it is a difficult emotion to master. So, the idea I was toying with is to start using video more to blog. It is definitely quicker to just speak, and personally I enjoy watching videos. However, some may think it more intimidating, that you are more exposed, and I may too, when I actually get around to doing one. Maybe I will start by blabberizing, and then move on to real video. I suppose I will have to get more comfortable editing the video, so that when I mention links (as I am fond to do) I will be able to put a pop-up on the screen. In any case I would like to hear your thoughts on Vlogging? What are the pros and cons as you understand them? Are there sites that you can recommend? Do you find it more or less intimidating, and more or less time-consuming?

Thank you.