There are a number of ways to use online learning to supplement course material, as a way to encourage motivated students to become more engaged, and also as a way to brand yourself as an instructor and help your classes attract more students and recognition. For example, the use of a blog can feature links to additional articles on a particular subject. You, as the instructor, can make students aware of the personal blog within the classroom environment but also emphasize that readings and/or projects described in the blog are not required and not directly attached to the learning objectives of a particular class. In this way, students that want to learn more can do so under your unofficial guidance without forcing students that may not have the interest nor time to do so. And, since the materials would be outside the standard curriculum, you, as the creator of the blog, could leave the readings, etc. up after the course is over to allow others to use it, thereby actively engaging in open access. The blog might become a good place to experiment with ideas that you have not yet integrated into your curriculum and in this way you could grow via feedback to ideas and strategies.
In addition to the benefits to students, the blog or other virtual presence can serve as a platform for you to reach others that might not know of your academic work. You could give potential students, colleagues, or others your blog URL and they could become acquainted with your approach to learning by viewing your blog. Students could also scaffold on your posts by contributing their own ideas in the form of comments, etc. If a comment is not directly related to the learning objectives of the post, you could delete the student post. People might also discover the blog through word of mouth or via a search engine and in that way you could build on your academic reputation through the positive branding.
The above ideas detail ways that blogs might help you differentiate your students in terms of motivation and also differentiate yourself from other instructors. Your college or other learning institution would also benefit from this differentiation, as its name might be associated with the blog and might receive benefit from being associated with whatever content creation there is. Of course, some faculty might want to retain independence from their institution in the blog and in that way be able to post items without regard to other brands that might be involved.
