To Blog or Not
to Blog: That is the Question
Nels P. Highberg,
Assistant Professor
Rhetoric, Language, and
Culture
<http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/highberg/blog/>
I. Blogs:
A Definition
According to Jill Walker, associate professor of
humanistic informatics at the University of Bergen, a blog (short for "web
log") "is a frequently updated website consisting of dated entries
arranged in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first
(see temporal ordering). Typically, weblogs are published by individuals and
their style is personal and informal. Weblogs first appeared in the mid-1990s,
becoming popular as simple and free publishing tools became available towards
the turn of the century. Since anybody with a net connection can publish their
own weblog, there is great variety in the quality, content, and ambition of
weblogs, and a weblog may have anywhere from a handful to tens of thousands of
daily readers."
<http://jilltxt.net/archives/blog_theorising/final_version_of_weblog_definition.html>
II. Blogs
in Action
- Crooked Timber: This blog is
considered by many to be the central blog that brings academic blogs
together. Check the sidebar to the
right for a list of blogs in disciplines as diverse as education,
engineering, law, physics, and philosophy.
<http://www.crookedtimber.org/>
- PTW 210W: Foundations
of Argument: This is the blog I
created during Fall 2004 for my argumentation course. Blogging allowed us to do two primary
things. First, we were able to
connect to classes at two other universities who were also reading George
Orwell's 1984. Second, we were able to ask questions of
the author of another book we were reading, Driving by Moonlight by Kristin Henderson.
<http://ptw210wfall04.blogspot.com/>
- 1984 Project: This is another
blog discussing Orwell's 1984. It
involves students from a high school in
<http://1984project.blogspot.com/>
- Blog Assignment for
an Advanced Professional Writing Course: This is a PDF file of an assignment
prompt that Dr. Jennifer Bay of Purdue University assigned for her
graduate course in professional writing.
<http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~jbay/515/weblogproject.pdf>
III. Resources
- Blogger: This is THE most important resource for
anyone who wants to explore blogging.
It really is easy to use and it's free. You can upload a blog to their free
webspace (the "blogspot" blogs listed above) or you can upload
to your own space (as I do with mine)
<http://www.blogger.com/home>
- Typepad: This is another popular blogging tool
that many consider to be more efficient and useful than Blogger, but it
does cost to use. To get a class
online would cost $14.95 per month.
<http://www.sixapart.com/typepad/>
- Wordpress: This is another blogging tool that is
free and relatively easy (though I do not have experience using it
personally.
<http://wordpress.org/>
- Educational Weblogs
and Resources: This website contains links to guidelines for students, which
include detailed guidelines for developing a blog at Blogger. It also lists resources for those in
various disciplines.
<http://www.wordsworth2.net/writing/weblogresource.htm>
IV. Legal
Considerations
Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
guidelines were designed to protect the privacy of a student's educational
records. Though they do not address
blogs, they do suggest that it might be best never to require students to use
their real name when creating or posting to a blog. Offer students the option of posting under a
pseudonym that they only disclose to you and that you do not disclose to
anyone.
*Note: When it comes to anything in the blogosphere,
simply find a blog and, from the links there, find another, then another, and
so on, and so on, and so on. That is the
best way to learn about how blogs work and what can be done with them.
Created: