Blogging statistics are fascinating things (well they are on WordPress anyway).. Not only can you get excited when you have lots of visitors/hits, and despondent if no-one comments, and dumbfounded how one day you can have 60 visitors and the next day 0 (were did they all go?)… but more importantly the blog stats that WordPress offers can help you see where your visitors have come from and where they have gone!
So having kicked myself back into action (well reoriented my energies)… I saw I had had a few visitors and was curious to see where they had come from. One of the referrers turned out to be this site Shelved in the W’s. I’ll let the readers explore who has developed this blog and why.. but I discovered about half way down Mark’s postings a whole list of OT student and therapist blogs and nestled in the middle was mine! So thank you Mark for helping us to get the profession out there by including us in your list…. and for capturing just about all the OT blogs I know of…
Initially I thought a list of 24 is a little sad really – after all aren’t occuapational therapists supposed to be confident around technology (raised eyebrows!)..but then when I compared how many physiotherapy, or respiratory therapy blogs there were compared to OT – I started to feel quite a bit better! Perhaps we are more technosavvy than our colleagues.. and perhaps we should be showing our colleagues what they could also be achieving.
And I also thought – well good on you New Zealand – as nine of those blogs are from New Zealand (and another is a New Zealand graduate living overseas!). So proportionally we are doing very well! So there we go – a huge hug of congratulations for all of us… and lets keep going!
Occupational Therapy - educational issues 
Sep 25, 2007 @ 05:51:57
I think you’re doing better than midwifery so be grateful! LOL Sarah
Sep 25, 2007 @ 06:41:50
I am astonished at the number of OT bloggers out there. I wonder why that is? Is it the nature of the OT profession? Why do OT find this to be a particularly useful tool when midwives, who share the issues of professional isolation have not embraced it to the same extent.
I just attended a video conference today with midwives from around the South Island some of whom I know have an extreme dislike of technology and computers. Everyone seemed to really like video conferencing. I on the other hand have an extreme phobia about remote controls, can never get the hang of them, probably because I rarely do get my hands on it at home. Given that video conferencing involved manipulating a remote control I did not do so well. Found myself vigorously nodding or shaking my head rather than speaking.
I think every method of communication has its place and certainly it is good for a small group to get together on a video conference to brainstorm a particular issue. The value of this should not be diminished. I cant help thinking though that we could have done much more through a different format. However it allowed those who are more challenged by computers to participate where otherwise they may not have. I feel the web, blogging, online meetings information transfer has so much to offer though. It seems a shame that we should go down this track rather that supporting those who have problems with online technology to overcome their fears and find out what they could gain.
I get a feeling that some in our profession seem to feel that being techno-savy somehow diminishes the art of midwifery. That being comfortable with computers means that you are somehow less of a ‘midwife’ ‘woman’ whatever. Has this ever been the case if OT. How do we overcome the barriers and support those who find this environment challenging to take the plunge.
Sarah and I have been thinking about going on a road show to demonstrate how these things can benefit the profession. I would love your thoughts on this Merollee
Hi Sarah and Carolyn – you seem to be keeping a close eye on my blog here.. do you use bloglines to keep updated??
Anyway.. to comment on your comments:
Why are OT’s using blogs and other web 2.0 tools.. I guess there is a branch of our profession that deals with technology – so even though we often talk about the profession being technophobic… there is some of us who will dabble happily – and once one starts, and shows another then is certainly has started to snowball…. so yes we share a lot in common with midwives… but there is just a small group of us who are prepared to dabble and learn and aren’t quite frightened off by it all! I think of the OT’s I have managed to talk with who are dabbling in blogs etc… they have had experience of technology pre OT almost – they have used them personally or have had experience of technology – so that may be another reason why more of us are prepared to play!
I think midwives might enjoy videoconferencing over online interactions as like our profession the importance of seeing the ‘other’ person, reading their nonverbal cues etc is such an important part of our work – its this information we use as part of our clinical reasoning.. so its natural when we think of means of communicating and overcoming professional isolation that we seek tools that are most familiar to us. I also wonder about the learning styles of midwives (ever tried the VARK with your students). OT’s are predominantly kinesthetic (hmm a doing profession perhaps!)… followed by visual. Auditory is always lower, and reader/writers are very low…. So … blogging is a read/write task, as is much of online tools – whereas videoconference would feel great -you can see and you can demonstrate and show – it so fits with our professions learning styles, and perhaps midwives as well?
do OT’s see using these tools as being detracting from who they are.. ummmm I don’t think so.. more they have trouble justifying it as a professional development tool to others. If people see me on the internet they will think I’m just mucking around or playing not actually ‘learning’. I think OT”s are focused on providing services to clients.. so they will prioritise clients and their needs over their own personal learning needs (unless its a conference!!).
so how to overcome people’s lack of inclination.. I do like your idea of a roadshow… I’ve tried lots of different ways – I started with written ‘stories’ in our professional newsletter – happy to share these with you, followed by presenting the stories at conference (which is now a journal article)… and I”ve cajoled, coerced and pleaded… but the next step that seems to have worked was to encourage others through the project group. I now see this slowly developing and as some of the group are continuing with the tools they like.. they are sharing with other s- so the pebble in the pond is starting to work. For me the big issue was creating the presence of our profession on the web…so to do that, I had to be able to show people what was there, what could be there (using narratives/stories), and then help them to learn the skills in a safe supportive way – which had to be (sorry Leigh).. face to face in a structured setting!!!!!! Happy to share more of this as well…
Sep 25, 2007 @ 13:42:58
I’m certainly interested in hearing about any other OT (or rehab in general) blogs, both student and professional. It would be great if an OT person would take on the task of compiling a list and keeping it up to date. I have a librarian colleague who serves the School of Med Rehab here in Winnipeg. He may be interested in taking this on.
I’m delighted to see so many OT people blogging, and so many New Zealanders too. Best wishes to you all.
Sep 26, 2007 @ 05:11:04
Really enjoyed your comments, Carolyn and Merrolee. I think you’re right about midwives and OT wanting to ‘see’ people in order to be able to interact.
Back to stats-can I do all those functions with Blogger? cheers Sarah
Sep 26, 2007 @ 05:20:41
Hi Sarah
I’ve just had a quick look on blogger.com but I can’t find anything about statistics – its one of the reasons I think I prefer wordpress.com for blogging. I did start one in blogger. com but have much more enjoyed creating this one in wordpress.com.
Re OT’s and midwives.. yes they are people professions – I guess what I’m trying to sell the profession is that there are adjuncts – they don’t have to give up what they enjoy now, but when those resources aren’t easily available – or come at a cost.. what else can we tap into??
Sep 26, 2007 @ 21:50:21
hi guys, great to see such discussion going on.. i almost feel left out! only have myself to blaim, nit keeoing up with my newsreader and all. Stats for any blog can be obtained using a third party service. eg. http://mapstats.blogflux.com
Sep 29, 2007 @ 09:15:48
Nice Site!
Oct 12, 2007 @ 02:09:10
I am also suprised how may OT bolggers there are out there! This is a new experience for me, but thanks to your training Merolee it is a tool that I can now use to help with my professional development and link in with OT’s worldwide!
Hi Aimee.. thanks for the comment and looking forward to seeing your blog evolve – now I have to go and find it so I can link it in on my site on the Occupational Therapy blogs page! Well done making your first posting – make sure you keep it up!
Oct 12, 2007 @ 03:01:14
hello, Thank you for an interesting session on 2.0 web tools!
Hello Travellingspear – glad you enjoyed the session and hope to see more postings from you!
Jun 24, 2008 @ 00:25:57
There are loads of nursing, psychology, medical, social work and physiotherapy blogs in cyberspace also – so I don’t feel we’re completely ‘different’ from other professional groups!
I personally don’t blog as an occupational therapist very much, most of my work is about pain management/self management in general.
It is nice, however, to have dialogue with so many different people ‘out there’ – bring it on!!
Jul 20, 2010 @ 00:31:08
I’m really sure lot’s of you are like jokes.
Why not share here your favorite jokes so others can know about it 🙂
Below is my favorite joke which is Needles Are Not Nice
Bill and Bob, two children, were sitting outside a clinic. Bill happened to be crying very loudly.
“Why are you crying?” Bob asked.
“I came here for a blood test,” sobbed Bill.
“So? Are you afraid?”
“No. For the blood test, they cut my finger.
As Bob heard this, he immediately began crying profusely.
Astonished, Bill stopped his tears and asked Bob, “Why are you crying now?”
To which Bob replied, “I came for a urine test!”
Bob was very stupid, thinking his vital will be cut for a urine test