Blogs

Description & primary elements of blogs
  1. A web page whose content can be created & edited by the blog host (without any knowledge of html or web design); anyone who has been given access can post comments on the blog following the blog entry.
  2. All users have Internet connection; broadband connection not necessary (unless there are large files attached) but does reduce down and upload time.
Rationale for using blogs
  1. For blog owner to share documents (text and/or image based and multimedia)
  2. For others to provide comments on the blog or ask questions of the blog owner or of each other (however, the comments and questions cannot be threaded as they can be in a discussion forum).
Use at UMD of blogs
  1. Increasingly used to have students share work samples for review and comment by peers and others in their discipline.
  2. Faculty & students using for podcasting of audio files (e.g. German classes).
Advantages of blogs
  1. Although not as easy to create or edit as a wiki, blogs are relatively easy to create with no understanding of html or web page design. Contributing comments in response to someone else's blog is easier than posting a comment/edit on a wiki (format and location is preset).
  2. Because of the ease of creating and using a blog, and the numerous free blogs available, students (and faculty) can create their own for viewing by any users and without the constraints of the university system. Students are using these as work portfolios.
  3. Any type of digital file can be uploaded to and shared from a blog.
  4. Blogs can be subscribed to with RSS feed, thus enabling students to keep up with updates to blogs created by instructors.
  5. Blogs can be used as an easy way to podcast/vodcast.
  6. Unlike iTunes, UThink can host podcasts in a format that can be accessed by all computers and mp3 players (currently only iPods are compatible with the iTunes U file format).
  7. Students & faculty can use blogs to post content that they would like to be seen and commented on by others.
  8. Although the design of blogs makes this use clumsy (since responses cannot be threaded), blogs can be used as a substitute for online forums.
Disadvantages of blogs
  1. Since comments posted in a blog cannot be threaded (as they are by design in a discussion forum and as they can be if desired by users in a wiki), it is difficult to follow the evolution of comments within a blog.
Technology requirements of blogs
  1. Computer with access to the Internet
  2. Browser.
Issues & problems related blogs
  1. Use of free, public blogs is not secure, so users are at the mercy of the blog host (server may go down, or blog host may close down the blog).
Emerging issues and tips related to blogs
  1. If students are seeking input on drafts of their work from a limited number of people, it is better for them to share their work in Microsoft Word and use the "track changes" feature so that the suggestions and changes are embedded in the relevant portions of the document rather than listed as comments at the end.
  2. Blog host needs to monitor new comments closely if blog permissions are set to allow outsiders or a large group of users to enter comments (since an unfortunate consequence of open blogs is having users post inappropriate and often obscene comments).

Return to Framework