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BLOGS: Demarco, Heu, Tom

Page history last edited by Ashley 15 years, 1 month ago

 

BLOGS

By Jeanna DeMarco, Jessica Tom, and Erin Heu

Februrary 11, 09

 

What is a BLOG?

 

A blog is a website usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, webpages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Blogging is similar to an online diary; it provides a quick and easy way for teachers and students to share work, opinions, ideas, and information.

 

History of BLOGS

 

Like with the start of many things, early bloggers did not have a name for what they were doing. While it took some time for the genre and the name to develop, blogging has been around since the beginning of the internet. Below is a timeline of the history of blogs:

 

Dawn of Internet Time: Tim Berners-Lee at CERN begins keeping a list of all new sites as they come online.

June 1993: NCSA's oldest archived What's New list of sites.

June 1993: Netscape begins running it's What's New! list of sites.

Jan 1994: Justin Hall launches Justin's Home Page which would become Links from the Underground.

April 1997: Dave Winer launches Scripting News . His company, Userland, will release Frontier, Manila and Radio Userland, all website and blog content software.

Sept 1997: Slashdot launches their news for nerds.

Dec 1997: Jorn Barger coins the term web log.

 

November 1998: Cameron Barrett publishes the first list of blog sites on Camworld.

Early 1999: Peter Merholz coins the term blog after announcing he was going to pronouce web blogs as "wee-blog". This was then shortened to blog.

Early 1999: Brigitte Eaton starts the first portal devoted to blogs with about 50 listings.

July 1999:  Metafilter's earliest archives.

July 1999: Pitas launches the first free build your own blog web tool.

August 1999: Pyra releases Blogger which becomes the most popular web based blogging tool to date, and popularizes blogging with mainstream internet users.

 

How can blogs be used in the classrom?

 

Communicate with parents. Some teachers see blogging as an outreach tool for interacting with parents. It’s not always possible to have the kind of hands-on interaction with parents, especially with large class sizes and busy schedules. A blog allows a teacher to summarize what’s going on in the classroom and share it with parents that have Internet access. (But it’s worth noting that not all parents will have access - something we’ll talk about more another day.) And most blogging tools allow readers to comment on what’s been posted, so parents are able to respond to different blog entries and have an online conversation with the teacher.

 

Communicate with your peers. Lots of educators blog so they can have a professional dialogue with their colleagues. Everyone can benefit from discussing the various challenges we all face in our work, and blogs serve as a mechanism for sharing those ideas. Some educational bloggers like Will Richardsonand David Warlick have developed quite a following because of their eloquence and creativity. In many ways, blogs like these serve the same purpose that email discussion lists have served for more than a decade - they become a platform for discussing topics of interest to a large group of people. Blogging is different, though, in that it’s more personal and intimate, tailored to your professional interests and needs.

 

Showcase student work There’s nothing like seeing a teacher beam with pride because of the success of their students. Blogs can be used as a platform for highlighting the best work of your students, showcasing their talent to an audience that goes beyond the classroom.

And who’s to say that teachers are the only ones who should blog? More and more educators are exploring blogging as a student activity in itself. Blogging takes writing assignments into the real world, giving students the chance to receive feedback from each other, as well as other online mentors. While some teachers prefer that blogs only feature their students’ polished work, others see blogging as a platform where students can share early drafts of a writing assignment, using online feedback to improve each version. Blogging becomes an interactive form of peer review.

 

Blogs by students:

Journals - Many English teachers (and those in other subjects) require their students to write regular journal entries. Blogs make it easier for students to write and edit these posts and for teachers to read and respond to them.

Book reports, literature circles - Students often are expected to summarize and react to books and other materials they’ve read. Doing this in the form of a blog encourages students to revise and rewrite their thoughts. It also allows other students to comment on the work of their classmates.

Creative writing assignments, short stories, poetry - A blog can be a great way to showcase student writing, again with the options for other students and even parents to comment on the work.

Display and discussion of student art work/photography - since pictures, video and audio can be embedded within a blog post, showcasing student work doesn’t have to be limited to their writing.

Student portfolios - This is actually a combination of all of the above and more. Blogs are excellent tools to keep an ongoing record of student work since they offer an easy way to categorize the assignments and find them later.

Class discussions, current events - Time for discussion in class is limited and some students may not feel comfortable participating. Extending this process to a blog allows everyone to participate, often with more thought and a richness that’s not possible in real time.

Class archive - One student serves as the class recorder each week, entering a summary of activities and major learning.  This provides help for students who miss class and review materials for everyone.  The rest of the class can add additional information and corrections in the comments.

Role playing - Students could write a blog in the voice of a fictional or real life character and in the process learn more about them.

Class newsletter - Rather than the teacher producing a paper-based record of what’s going on in class, a blog would allow everyone in class to contribute. The result is a living document with a built-in archive.

Collaborative projects with another class - Due to the reach of the web, classes anywhere in the world can work together through one or more blogs.

Science experiment notebook - Rather than have students keep a record of their experiments on paper, a blog allows students to enter and edit their finding from anywhere.

 

Teachers can use blogs as well

Post class assignments, upcoming assignments, project help, calendars and more - Both students and parents can keep track of what is expected and what deadlines are looming.

Class suggestion box - Asking students for feedback can be easily done in a blog and allowing for comments could get some interesting discussions started.

Communicate with parents - A blog could provide parents with both information and an option to comment.

Journal for teacher researcher projects - Rather than keep a paper journal that is seen by only a few others, a blog offers to chance to communicate with other teachers interested in the same topics.

Tool for collaboration with colleagues anywhere - Extending that idea, blogs can be wonderful tools for personal professional development and a way to connect with other teachers.

 

BLOG resources for future learning:

 

www.blogger.com/start 

www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/14/blogging-for-beginners-2/

googleblog.blogspot.com/

www.typepad.com/freetrial/start-your-own-blog.html

Below is a short tutorial on how to start a blog.

YouTube plugin error

 

BLOG applications for future teaching:

 

Teacher Sites:

www.cwrl.utexas.edu/node/233

www.teachingtips.com/blog/2008/07/21/50-useful-blogging-tools-for-teachers/

adrianbruce.com/blogging/blogging.htm 

weblogg-ed.com/

www.eledblog.com/lesson_plans

www.assortedstuff.com/stuff/ 

 

Other Resources:

youtube.com

wikipedia.com

www.blockstar.com

 

Do you have any questions, comments, etc.?

Please feel free to comment and share your ideas about educational blogging. Post them in the comment section below.

 

Let us know how we did! Please fill out the Feedback Survey. Thank You!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments (3)

Jessica Smallwood said

at 4:08 pm on Feb 13, 2009

nice video!

Brittany Winberg said

at 8:48 pm on Feb 13, 2009

Lots of great ideas of when to use blogs! Great job!

H Jeffury Pitt said

at 3:18 pm on Feb 15, 2009

Now I know what they mean by - they are such bloggers...

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