- What is the definition of a blog? What is the history of blogs – who started blogging?
A blog in its simplest term is an online journal written in reverse chronology that allows the readers to post comments in response to what they read. The original term "web log" was coined by Jorn Barger in 1997. Jesse James Garrett then published a list of web logs on Camworld that included 23 sites, and in 1999 a community of bloggers began. In 1999, Eatonworld Portal was designed to be the first portal dedictated to listing blogs. Blogger was also introduced in 1999, which provides free blog space.
2. What is the purpose of a blog? What do blogs contribute to the “community” of the web?
The purposes of blogs are as vast and diverse as the blogs themselves. In essence, blogs are a way to create a community around a certain topic. Blogs range in topics including political, to fashion, entertainment, food, educational, business, and recreational. Blogs contribute to fostering community by allowing the web user not just to gain information by reading content off the web, but also to post and communicate with those of similar interests.
3. How do blogs differ from discussion boards?
One of the main differences between discussion boards and blogs is that with blogs only the creator of the blog can issue a new post. The creator of the blog also has the control to delete any comments that he/she would want to delete. With a discussion board responses are required for a discussion, but with blogs, comments are additional but not required. The purpose of the discussion board is to gain group input into a given topic, where typically a blog’s purpose is to share information from one person and receive opinions or feedback.
4. How can an individual become involved in blogging?
First step in blogging is to create your own blog. This can be done by going to blogger.com, Xanga.com, TheDiary.com, WordPress.org, among others. After your page is designed and created, you should then go search the sites to find other blogs that are interesting to them. It is important to leave comments on those blogs because eventually people from that site will begin visiting your site!
5. How might blogs be used in an educational setting (with students in the K-12 arena)?
Blogs can be used in an educational setting in various ways. In a writing class, students can post their writings on blogs so that not just the teacher but other students can respond to their writing. Students in foreign languages can create bilingual blogs and begin communicating with students in other countries to learn culture and language from their blog. In Science classes, students can document lab results in blogs as opposed to writing a lab report and turn in. In Reading, students can write book reviews on blogs and search other blogs for similar reviews. With each of these, students can create blogs but also begin building a community with other bloggers in the Science, Writing, Languages, or Literature circles.
6. Can you locate some examples of appropriate blogs in which students might participate?
As an elementary teacher, finding blogs that are safe and written in language my students can understand and discuss was difficult. Some were great ideas that as a teacher, you could create for your own classroom. A few include:
Sarah, Plain, and Tall Book Review
Math Investigators
Totally Awesome Book Beach Party
Summer Reading Camp – this would need to be created for your personal classroom, but what a creative way to engage readers during the summer!
7. Cite some examples (URLs) of sites with interesting blog activity.
http://peoplereading.blogspot.com/
8. What is your commentary on blogs?
I think blogs are a powerful way to communicate in a world that is so busy now. Majority of people do not have time to go to conferences, book discussion groups, or even meet with colleagues. However, during various points of the day, people are on the Internet for 4 or 5 hours. This is an excellent opportunity to share the wealth of knowledge that used to be gain in corporate settings of conferences. One of the down sides of blogging is losing the personal humanistic connection. However, that is already being lost due to the age of technology. Perhaps the quality of written work is diminishing now that the locus of control has been extended to all people not just published authors, but it does seem to keep in time with the way in which our society is heading and what our society values.
9. Do you see blogs contributing in a positive or negative way to Internet activity?
Blogs increase the amount of Internet activity and it seems like it increases it in a positive way. There is now a more structured atmosphere in which to have conversations on the Internet as opposed to entering an unnamed chat room. With all of the fears of online predators, blogs seem to provide a safe, risk free environment to have conversations and discuss opinions and thoughts.
10. What do you foresee as the future of blogs? Do you think this is just another fad, or do you believe it is an activity that will continue for some time?
Blogs, I do not believe are fads. How we perceive blogs will certainly change. Some of the feeds we have now, such as Facebook and MySpace could perhaps change or could perhaps continue to target the younger generation. However, as that younger generation grows up, they will be used to the online community that they developed in their teen years and will continue to look to that as a means of communication. I think blogs will become used in every facet of society from business, to sports team, to politics, to education.
