Blogs

Blogs

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__**What is it (Definition)?**__
A blog is a website in which you can write, link, and collaborate in a way that you control.

A blog is your voice, your perspective, your reflections, your initiative, your space to grow and develop your ideas and knowledge, your personal or professional "shingle" on the web, your way to communicate with friends and family in both pictures and text, your way to contribute to a body of knowledge....

A blog is "a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are 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." [] (Stephenie)

A blog is "a website that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer" (Merriam-Webster.com)

__**Attributes/Features**__

 * 1) Individual access or access to anyone
 * 2) Template design for user needs
 * 3) Organizational control by user
 * 4) Adding multimedia
 * 5) Mobile/email possibilities
 * 6) Comments allow for collaboration
 * 7) Limited number of authors/editors of main content (usually only one)
 * 8) Blogs can contain hyperlinks allowing learning to extend beyond what is written
 * 9) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Some blogs can be synced to mobile devices

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">__**Advantages**__

 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Students must gain understanding of the content before being able to publish their thoughts.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Students can gain insight from others' comments, leading to collaboration.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The writers must consider how their views will be interpreted by others before publishing, leading to refinement of thoughts.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Students can work "together" without being in the same room or working at the same time.
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The set up of blogs allows for individualism through creation of their own product but also collaboration via comments.
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Organization can be established multiple ways including chronological, tagging and linking.
 * 7) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Blogs can be managed to include multiple authors, allowing for multiple perspectives on one subject.
 * 8) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Learners who read peer blogs can experience new information and elaborate on their own understanding of a given topic.
 * 9) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Creator of blog can set up protocols for comments. Comments can be listed automatically or reviewed by the creator before publishing to the site.
 * 10) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Shy and quiet students may feel a sense of belonging in the classroom with the ability to express thoughts and feelings through written work rather than orally.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">__**Disadvantages**__

 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Requires a computer of some sort as well as knowledge of how to use the selected blogging site
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The implementation must be thought out very carefully so students know what is expected of them in regards to the tool or time will be wasted.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">If organization is not carefully managed or is not consistent the user(s) can spend extended time searching.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Blogs stay forever and represent a snapshot of an opinion in time, like a magazine article. Once posted, they can only be changed by the poster or the site moderator.
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Blogs aren't a synchronous communication, so there is lag and confusion in comment posts. Learners aren't always able to learn directly from one another.
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Only the initial blogger can re-organize the information in the blog post; others just have to mentally do so based on comments and dialogue with other learners.
 * 7) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Blogs are heavily reliant on the abilities to read, write and type, making them difficult to use with pre-literate students.
 * 8) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Limited authorship inhibits collaboration because not all learners are contributing to the blog entry itself.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">__**Applications to the Classroom**__

 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Students could be given a problem (or set of problems) and asked to write their thought process out. This allows for them to think through the problem as well as other students the ability to comment and discuss better/other ways. Students could also compare different methods of solving the same problem as shown on the different blogs.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Writing and developing thoughts on course/topic state standards. As each standard of knowledge exists independently and can be written about that way, the student can also reference and link to other standards they have written about to establish their understanding of the interconnection between the topics.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Students can collaborate with students in another classroom to practice writing and share ideas. For example, students in an American classroom learning Spanish could write blog entries in Spanish and share them with students in a counterpart Spanish-speaking classroom who are learning English. Students critique each others' blogs, write comments back, learn about each others' culture, and practice their writing skills as they compose their entries.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Students can create online portfolios.
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Students can use blogs to do book reviews/reports.
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Blogs can be used to monitor progress on projects. For example, students can update their blogs to show their progress with their Science Fair Project.
 * 7) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Students can use blogs as part of the research process. For example, I am employing the use of a blog to have students share their findings about the importance of knowing fractions in their chosen professions. (Stephenie)
 * 8) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Students can blog to reflect on their learning.
 * 9) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Students can blog to express their reaction to a lesson or topic.
 * 10) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Students can blog to connect with other students either in a different calss or a different school.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">__**Individual Knowledge**__

 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Searching for and providing hyperlinks to support claims leads to deeper understanding.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Sense of ownership by having a blog leads to higher engagement.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Organizational skills and resulting conceptualization of relationships between topics.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Consideration and responses to other individuals' comments requires greater individual contemplation of the initial concepts in the blog post.
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Learners must make connections between the content and their own personal experience.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">__**Group Knowledge**__

 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The discussion, via comments, leads to students supporting and refining their understanding of the content.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Organizational skills and resulting conceptualization of relationships between topics.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Reading peer blogs engages learners in discussions, either online or face-to-face, about what they have read.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">__**Links to Examples**__
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[|http://www.bloggingtips.com/2010/01/05/50-examples-of-great-blog-engagement/]

http://classroomblogging.wikispaces.com/Blog+Examples

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 28px;">__References__ Blogger: quick tour. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g

Williams, J. B., & Jacobs, J. (2004). Exploring the Use of Blogs as Learning Spaces in the Higher Education Sector. //Australasian Journal of Educational Technology//, 232-247.

Evanouski, L. (2009). //Blogs in Education//

@http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blog