Introduction to Blogs
What is a blog?
- shorthand for weblog
- online, chronological collection of personal commentary, links, and media
- can easily create, publish, and use from anywhere with an Internet connection
- can invite others to your "conversation"
- considered "social software" (see Wikipedia definition)
- for a great article describing blogs, see a post by Meg Hourihan
What should you know about blogs?
- They are a trend (Fortune's #1 Tech Trend in 2005) that is not going away.
- More kids have blogs than teachers (see Alan November presentation)
- A blogger is a person who blogs, blogging is the act of adding to your blog, and the blogosphere is the informal network of blogs.
- Blogs, bloggers, blogging, and the blogosphere have had a significant impact on:
- business (see Why There's No Escaping the Blog and About's Why Blogging Matters to Business)
- politics and news (see a blog post, Rathergate, warblogs, citizen journalism)
- 12 million adult bloggers & 57 million adult blog viewers (see 2006 Pew Internet Report)
- much much more, too many blogs, not enough time...
Differences between blogs and wikis
- Blogs are time-driven (viewed in reverse chronological order) and wikis are subject-driven
- Blogs have an individual diary metaphor and wikis are more like a friendship based on a specific interest
- Blogs are usually WYSIWYG and wikis usually have their own simple wiki syntax
With this site, we will help you start on your blogging journey by:
- exploring some blog software programs,
- discussing various ways of using blogs in support of teaching and learning, and
- providing resources (tutorials, tips, examples, etc.) that will support your use of blogs.
Cool Quote:
"Blogs are as individual as the people who keep them, but this survey shows that most bloggers are primarily interested in creative, personal expression," said Lenhart. "Blogs make it easy to document individual
experiences, share practical knowledge, or just keep in touch with friends and family." (see 2006 Pew Internet Report)