Blogs – Technology Summary
Blogs (or weblogs) are an online, chronological collection of personal commentary that serve to capture thoughts and comments on a website for others to read. Entries can include text, hyperlinks, images, or multimedia, and visitors can read postings, submit comments, and search the site by date or keyword. Individuals wanting to start a blog have many online services available, some of which are free. Blogs can be used to create asynchronous discussion forums, which are particularly beneficial for distance learning and hybrid courses. Proponents of blogs contend that blogs promote conversational interactivity, increase creative responses from students, and connect learners beyond the classroom.
Advantages
- Can be easily published and accessed via the Internet (Beldarrain, 2006)
- Strengthens individuality, collectivity, and community (Ebner, 2009)
- Increases student interest and ownership of learning (Brescia & Miller, 2009)
- Provides opportunities to take what is learned in the classroom and express it to those in the public eye – just as they would in the real world (Brescia & Miller, 2009)
- Allows students to reflect before responding (Brescia & Miller, 2009)
- Enables users to archive their entries and visitor comments in a chronological order or category-based order (Kim, 2008)
- Allows students to have control over their blog entries, which contributes to more comfortable circumstances where students can be encouraged to make reflections and comments (Kim, 2008)
- Facilitates a series of extended discussions beyond class meetings (Kim, 2008)
- Members of a community can exchange thoughts on a public channel without having to use HTML language, which allows users to focus on content vs. programming (Wang & Hsua, 2008)
- Blogging platforms provide authors with a “tag” that enables them to categorize content and to make it easier for readers to access the archived information (Wang & Hsua, 2008)
- Encourages opinion expression among participants who are uncomfortable with related face-to-face discussions (Wang & Hsua, 2008)
Disadvantages
- When instructors take away the voluntary nature of participation and begin requiring posting and responses, some students will be tempted to respond simply for the sake of responding and to finish the requirement rather than processing information and learning (Pena-Shaff et al., 2005)
- Information is often based on inner experience, rather than fact (EDUCAUSE, 2005)
- If content is not properly attributed, institutions that host blogs may be liable for copyright infringement (Dabbagh & Reo, in press)
- Posts can be edited or deleted, which can make it difficult to archive or index content (EDUCAUSE, 2005)
Best Practices
- Demonstrate to students how to use RSS feeds to deliver information. These feeds allow students to obtain information with fewer steps and can automatically inform students of ongoing discussions without having to login to the system (Kim, 2008)
- Encourage students to allow other students to post comments on their own blogs (Pena-Shaff et al., 2005)
- Relate in-class discussion to the topics posted on the blog. Students tend to be more motivated to participate if the in-class discussion involves their own blog postings (Wang & Hsua, 2008)
- Prepare extra resources related to the topics posted by the participants to deepen the discussion. Links to these resources should be listed so they can be easily accessed (Wang & Hsua, 2008)
Apply this technology
How to Implement
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This video defines a blog and aligns the tool with an appropriate instructional strategy. The viewer is then introduced to the three most popular blogging platforms (WordPress, Blogger and TypePad) according to the editors of PCWorld. The video concludes by demonstrating how a blog can be used in a course (ACQ201B). |
Real World Examples
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Blogs from the U.S. Government provides 11 links to blogs specifically focused on pending government issues. They encompass a range from Business and Economics to Travel and Recreation. These blogs combines text, images, and links. Most blogs are primarily textual although many focus on photographs, videos, or audio. |
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Blogs from the Department of Education provide stories intended to inform readers what the Department of Education is doing to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. |
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Steps for incorporating a blog in DAU courses were created using requirements from ACQ201B. Using blogs in courses support several instructional strategies including exploration, articulation, collaboration, social negotiation, multiple perspectives, scaffolding and reflection. There numerous blogginh platforms to choose from but for our purpose WordPress was selected. |
Practice
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Blogger is an open source blogging platform which is easy to post text, photos, and videos from the web or your mobile phone. It has unlimited flexibility to personalize your blog with themes, gadgets, and more. |
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TypePad’s intuitive interface allows you to add content, pictures and links quickly and easily. Whether you know a little bit about technology or a lot, you can go from blank screen to live blog in minutes. It is a premier blogging service for professionals and small businesses. TypePad hosts many popular blogs and small business websites. |
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WordPress is an open source blogging platform which enables you to start a blog in seconds without any technical knowledge. Upgrades for things like CSS editing and custom domains are available to purchase . WordPress has been incredibly successful and risen from a handful of users to the most-used blog tool in its category. |
