Weblogs as Teaching Tools

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Weblogs as Teaching Tools

• Liz Kleinfeld
• Red Rocks Community College

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Home base

• http//telecoopdemo.blog-city.com
• (telecoop demo dot blog dash city dot com)

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What is a blog?

• http//lanceistheman.blogspot.com/
• http//www.realmofinsanity.blog-city.com/
• http//toomuchinfo.blog-city.com/

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What is a blog?

• Uses standard template
• Shares features with journals, threaded
  discussions, and homepages
• Allows interaction with readers from the public
  sphere

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Unique Features

• Collaborative
• Interactive
• Networked
• Has a real audience
• Has a broad audience

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Top 10 Reasons to Use Blogs in Your Classes

• 10. Makes thought processes visible
• 9. Encourages peer response
• 8. Makes writing less solitary
• 7. Allows expression of personal alongside
  academic
• 6. Requires students to think about audience

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Top 10 Reasons to Use Blogs in Your Classes

• 5. Can show teacher-as-writer
• 4. Acts as webliography
• 3. Works for developed ideas and musings
• 2. Students will be joining the blogosphere
• 1. Its addictive

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• http//revisionspiral.blog-city.com

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If you already use journaling or threaded
discussions in your classes,

• here are some reasons to switch to blogs

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For any class

• Blogs can be accessed 24/7
• Students will be participating in a larger
  discussion
• Students can see what others are doing/thinking
• Class community improved
• Students feel more responsible for actually
  journaling

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For an upper level class

• Establishes early publishing record
• Opens discipline-specific discourse to other
  disciplines
• Opens knowledge making process to the public
• Creates a public resource
• Useful for soliciting research assistance

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As if that werent enough. . .

• Blogs are free and simple to set up no
  knowledge of HTML necessary!!!

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Some Sample Student Blogs

• roseytoes.blogspot.com
• randomblog.blog-city.com
• tuggerblogger.blogspot.com

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Set up your blog

• Go to www.blog-city.com

• Name your blog
• Click Submit

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Set up your blog, continued

• Complete the pop-up box questions
• Select your color scheme (theme)
• Check the terms and conditions box
• Click proceed to step 2

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Set up your blog, continued

• Create your user account
• Click create user

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Set up your blog, continued

• Click create your free blog

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Set up your blog, continued

• Go to Click here to visit your blog

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Start blogging

• To access your control panel, login

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Start blogging
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Bells Whistles

• Simple enabling anonymous commenting, linking,
  bookmarks
• More advanced RSS feeds, polls, tracking hits

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Other Fun Blogging Stuff

• Blogrolls
• revisionspiral
• Blogsisters
• Blogs for Bush
• Community Blogs
• Revising Teaching
• Resources
• Blogs in Education
• Dennis G. Jerz

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Welcome to the Blogosphere!

• Enable anonymous commenting
• Post and link
• Create bookmarks
• Visit and comment on others blogs
• telecoopdemo.blog-city.com

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For more on blogging

• This slide show and many other links to blogging
  resources are posted at revisionspiral.blog-city.c
  om.
• Send me the URL for your blog!