Networked Applications
Blogs and Blogging
Based on the IEEE Education Society, 2006 Distinguished Lecture Series “Wikis, Blogs, RSS, and
Podcasting” by Prof. Burks Oakley II, University of Illinois
2004 Word of the Year
Definition of Blog & Blogging
A blog is a website for which an individual
or a group, frequently generates text,
photographs, video, audio files, and/or
links, typically (but not always) on a daily
basis. The term is a shortened form of
weblog.
Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or
adding an article to an existing blog is
called “blogging”. Individual articles on a
blog are called “blog posts”, “posts”, or
“entries”. The person who posts these
entries is called a “blogger”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
Blogs – The Basics
Blogs are web pages
Read in reverse chronological order – the
most recent postings are read first
Continue to increase in popularity - a new
blog is created every second
Popular in part because of the simple
software used to create them
simple to create
simple to update
neatly organized
free!
Blogs & Blogging - Media
Media used with blogs
Most blogs are text-based
There also are photo blogs, audio blogs
(podcasts), and video blogs (vodcasts)
Blogging – The Author
Create a free account at Blogger.com
Blogging – The Author
Enter blog posting on a web-based form
Blogging – The Author
Publish the blog at Blogspot.com
Blogging – The Reader
View the blog posting directly on the web
http://burkso2.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to the RSS feed for the blog
using an RSS feed aggregator
http://feeds.feedburner.com/b2onlearning
Why Would You Want to Blog?
Writing practice
Creative outlet
Crystallize wisdom
Contribute
Connect
Speed familiarity
Capture learning history
http://decker.typepad.com/welcome/2004/10/why_blog_7_reas.html
Growth of Blogging
The Blogosphere
“Blogosphere is the collective term
encompassing all blogs as a community or
social network. Many weblogs are densely
interconnected; bloggers read others’
blogs, link to them, reference them in their
own writing, and post comments on each
others’ blogs. Because of this, the
interconnected blogs have grown their own
culture.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogosphere
How to Find Blogs
Google blog search
Yahoo! blog search
Technorati
Bloglines
Blogs – Great Resource
Seven Things You Should Know About …
Blogs – from EDUCAUSE
What is it?
Who is doing it?
How does it work?
Why is it significant?
What are the downsides?
Where is it going?
What are the implications for teaching and
learning?
Teaching and Learning
“Blogs are an increasingly accepted instructional
technology tool. Blogs can be used for reflection
about classes, careers, or current events; they can
also capture and disseminate student- and faculty-
generated content.”
“Blogs offer students, faculty, staff and others a
high level of autonomy while creating a new
opportunity for interaction with peers. Blogs provide
a forum for discussion that goes beyond coursework
to include culture, politics, and other areas of
personal exploration. Students often learn as much
from each other as from instructors or textbooks,
and blogs offer another mechanism for peer-to-peer
knowledge sharing and acquisition.”
An (Optional) Assignment
Go to Blogger.com and create a free
account.
Create a blog [MyBlogName].
Compose your first blog posting.
Publish it at:
http://[MyBlogName].blogspot.com
Let all your friends, colleagues, and family
know the URL. You now are an official
blogger!!