All Hail the Blogger (Types of Blogs)

Types of Blogs

There are many different categories of blogs. WordPress.com lists the most popular categories of blogs as:

·         Personal – This is the broadest category and includes blogs about personal topics like politics, music, family, travel, and health.

·         Business – Professionals ranging from realtors to lawyers who use blogs to share their expertise, and companies who use blogs to personally engage their customers.

·         Schools – Blogs are a great way for teachers and students to collaborate on classroom projects.

·         Non-profits – Foundations, charities, and human rights groups find blogs a great tool to raise awareness and money for their cause.

·         Politics – Members of parliament, political parties, government agencies, and activist use blogs to connect with their constituencies.

·         Military – Members of the military blog to report what they see happening in various parts of the world and to stay in touch with their families.

·         Private – Some people make their blogs private to share photos and information within families, companies, or schools.

·         Sports – Teams, athletes, and fans use blogs to express and share their passion for various sports.

·         How-to, tips and reviews – There are a lot of blogs that share tips and reviews about cooking, games, music, books, movies, etc.

(WordPress.com)

There are several offshoots to the conventional modern blog. These are:

·         Microblogging – A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size. Microblogs allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links. These are sometimes called microposts (Wikipedia, Microblogging).

·         Blogs based on media type – Vlog, a blog comprising of videos. Linklog, a blog comprised of links. Sketchblog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches. Photoblog, a site comprised of photos. Tumblelogs, a blog of short posts and mixed media types (Wikipedia, Blogs).

·         Blogs based on device – Moblog, a blog written on a mobile device such as a smartphone or PDA (Wikipedia, Blogs).

        The Reverse Blog – A type of blog that is characterized by the lack of an actual blogger. It is written entirely by the users, who are given a topic (Wikipedia, Reverse Blog). 

All Hail the Blogger (The Origins of Blogging)

The Origins of Blogging

Jorn Barger is credited with the first use of the term weblog when referring to his Robot Wisdom website in December, 1997. Two years later, Peter Merholz coined the term blog after writing in the sidebar of his weblog, “I’ve decided to pronounce the word “weblog” as “wee-blog”. Or “blog” for short.” Merholz’s passing remark would probably have produced few ripples if it was not for Pyra Labs. The company picked up the word blog and decided to use it extensively. Within Pyra Labs, weblogs were now referred to as blogs and their web logging application as “blogger”. In June of 1999, blogger.com was registered as a domain name (Wikipedia, the Blog Herald, eHow tech).

Blogging is something that has evolved over the last two decades. Before blogging became popular, digital communities took many forms, including Usenet, Genie, CompuServe, e-mail lists, and Bulletin Board Systems. In the 1990’s, Internet forum software, created running conversations with “threads” (Wikipedia, Blogs) that connected topical messages. In June of 1993, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) started a “What’s New” list of sites. The site provided entries sorted by date and links to commentary (the Blog Herald). In January of the following year, Justin Hall launches his website which included links to and reviews of other sites. Two years later, Hall commences writing an online journal with dated daily entries although each daily post is linked through an index page (the Blog Herald). The modern blog evolved from the online diary sites like that of Hall. 

Early blogs were simply manually updated components of common Web sites. The evolution of tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of Web articles posted in reverse chronological order made the publishing process feasible to a much larger, less technical, population. Ultimately, this resulted in the distinct class of online publishing that produces blogs we recognize today (Wikipedia, Blogs).

All Hail the Blogger (What is a Blog?)

In recent years blogging has become very much a part of mainstream society. Some bloggers are celebrities, while others have become famous because of their blogs. There are bloggers who are experts in a certain field, and others who just like to blog about what is on their mind at the moment. This growing fascination with blogging has spilled over into education with numerous teachers having blogs relating to their profession and many teachers encouraging blogging by their students (both writing and reading blogs). So what is a blog and why are so many people doing it?

What is a Blog?

Essentially, a blog is a website consisting of entries (also called posts) that are made on an ongoing basis. Similar to a daily journal, these posts appear in reverse chronological order with the most recent post appearing first. These entries can be about whatever you want it to be, from a personal diary to an outlet for breaking news … and everything in between. There are blogs on virtually any topic you can think of. Blogs are typically created by a single individual, however more recently “multi-author blogs (MABs) have appeared. To increase their interactivity, many blogs include features such as comments and links. 

Developing a Successful Cyber Image (Part 4)

In Hough’s opinion, there are three interrelated emerging challenges faced with regards to a school’s cyber-image.

·         Selecting and presenting data and information in ways that benefit the school and its students

·         Identifying staff and student needs to enable them to meet these challenges

·        Planning to resource and implement responses to those needs

Hough points out that one of the early ‘victims’ of the current I.C.T. enabled clamour for “information about everything”, is a loss of wisdom in much of our social and public commentary. This loss is evident by our collective unwillingness to consider context as a reason or excuse for some comment or observed action that usually we don’t like or we disagree with. There is a clear reduction in our collective willingness to forget or forgive. In practice, there is now a permanent record available for web based actions of individuals and schools. This ‘permanent record’ aspect is an important part of creating, managing and protecting a cyber-image. Students in particular, but everyone in general, need to understand and accept that web based comments and behaviours are public and permanent and that your cyber-image is constituted from this mosaic of comments and occurrences with little regard for context or timing.

In today’s ‘information rich’ society, it is not a question of whether a school wants to take on the responsibility of the creation of its cyber-image since this cyber-image will be created with or without their involvement or permission through informal use by students, parents, and staff. Hough recommends that schools accept that data will be selected by others to be made public, and that leadership is required to be proactive and ready to explain the published data in ways that will benefit the school wherever possible. He also recommends that any data and information selected by the school be voluntarily presented and should, wherever possible, related back to the strategic thinking of the school, and always be designed to promote the positive image of the school.

Hough is correct in his thinking. Schools must take the ‘bull by the horns’ and take control of their cyber-image. As Hough pointed out, schools need to take two approaches, one reactive and the other proactive. In the reactive context, others have (and will continue to) select data and information about the school and will also provide interpretation and comments about it. In this context the school needs to manage its cyber-image which is created by others. In the proactive context, the cyber-image is being deliberately created and presented by the school by selecting the data and information about the school that will enable the schools goals and aspirations to be achieved. By using both of these contexts, the school cyber-image that is created is one that can influence others to be positive and supportive of the school.

References

Hough, M., Cyber Images, ACEL National Conference 2011, retrieved from http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=creating%20a%20successful%20cyber%20image%20for%20schools&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acel.org.au%2Fascd%2F2011confpres%2F6%2520Oct%2520Thu%2F1510%2F2011-10-06%25201510%2520ACEL%2520Conf%2520Hough.pptx&ei=PAuEUM2GBIb20gGs4ICoAw&usg=AFQjCNHAZZXL5m7uKe1XsbOhLsk39Rv52A on October 20^th, 2012.

Developing a Successful Cyber Image (Part 3)

A school website is only one way that schools can have a presence on the Internet and create a cyber-image. Many schools are now tweeting. Twitter can be used to share information that you want the world to know about your school such as sports scores and event announcements. Facebook is another powerful tool to reach an attended audience. Unlike Twitter that limits messages to 140 characters, Facebook allows for easy aggregation of all your posts on the school’s Facebook site. It’s a great place to store photos, list events, and share all the wonderful happenings and news from school. A school’s Facebook page can greatly facilitate a sense of community amongst its members. Some schools also have a school wiki and a school blog.

At the ACEL National Conference in 2011, Professor Michael Hough provided a workshop that dealt with the concept of cyber images. Hough makes the distinction between two types of school cyber image. The formal image includes the school’s official presence on the web through items such as school website, Twitter, Facebook, blog, and wikis. The school’s informal cyber image is created by student, staff, and parent comments on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and Second Life.

There is a definite trend toward a greater school presence on the web and this growing presence is influencing schools’ cyber image. Hough explores the question if this trend is good or bad from two different perspectives. The pessimist’s view for taking action is based on, “It is happening and I don’t like it, but we had better be prepared”. The optimist’s view is, “All this extra interest and exposure of schools is great and it gives us the opportunity to show the world what a good job we are doing”. The pessimist can immediately see all the reasons why an idea won’t work, however the optimist will look at an idea has having promise and wonder how he/she can get it to work in their school.

References

Hough, M., Cyber Images, ACEL National Conference 2011, retrieved from http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=creating%20a%20successful%20cyber%20image%20for%20schools&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acel.org.au%2Fascd%2F2011confpres%2F6%2520Oct%2520Thu%2F1510%2F2011-10-06%25201510%2520ACEL%2520Conf%2520Hough.pptx&ei=PAuEUM2GBIb20gGs4ICoAw&usg=AFQjCNHAZZXL5m7uKe1XsbOhLsk39Rv52A on October 20^th, 2012.

Developing a Successful Cyber Image (Part 2)

When planning your school’s website, Brian Hoke of Bentley & Hoke, LLC has several recommendations.

1.      A clear statement of who is to be in charge of the project.

2.      Realize that the project will demand significant amounts of time from school staff.

3.      Be sure that one of the first steps of the project is an examination of the needs of all intended audiences and the construction of an appropriate architecture for the site.

4.      Is the graphic design of the site to be the cart or the horse?

5.      Insist on user testing, and make sure that the testing comes early in the project lifecycle.

6.      Think about your content management needs.

7.      Consider setting standards for the way the site’s code will be built.

In his web article, How to Plan Your School’s Website, Robert Kennedy provides a large number of tips for those designing school websites. Some of the more relevant to all schools include:

1.      Keeping it simple. The school’s webpage should have an intuitive navigation bar so your visitors can get around easily and quickly find the information they need.

2.      Make it load fast. Eliminate slow loading graphics or fancy flash pages to make the site more accessible and appealing. Also, make any audio and optional extra.

3.      Have it designed professionally (in-house or out) and include the use of public relations. Have an understanding and knowledge of who the school is trying to reach, what the present constituency is, and what the target audience for the future might be.

4.      Safety considerations. Don’t expose students to unnecessary risk. This includes very careful consideration of any use of student pictures.

5.      Avoid garish colours for background and/or text. Avoid looking amateurish by providing illegible information.

6.      Keep your site fresh and up to date. Nothing looks more stagnant than information that has not been relevant in years.

References

Hoke, B. P., Planning your school’s website, retrieved from http://privateschool.about.com/od/consultants1/qt/websiterfp.htm on October 19^th, 2012.

Kennedy, R., How to plan your school’s website, retrieved from http://privateschool.about.com/od/consultants1/ht/websites.htm on October 20^th, 2012.

Developing a Successful Cyber Image (Part 1)

A quick web search using the words “school websites” will yield a multitude of results. It seems as if every school on the planet now has its own site on the Internet. The school website has become expected by parents, students, teachers, administrators and the general public. Schools are now being challenged to create and defend their cyber image. As schools increase their web presence the public scrutiny on schools has greatly increased. This would leave many asking, “Why does a school need a website and a cyber-presence?”

There are many reasons why a school may deem it necessary for them to have a website.  Snowcutter Web Designs breaks this need into three categories.

Celebrate and Publicise Your School

·         Raise the profile of your school

·         Display children’s work

·         Celebrate the successes of children and school

·         Advertise and record events and activities

·         Encourage feedback/communications from children and parents via a moderated visitors book

Improve Information Flow

·         Provide important and useful information about the school, its staff and its governors

·         Provide contact details and email contact to the school’s administration

·         Distribute newsletters, school brochures and other documents

·         Set up a mailing list to allow text copies of newsletters and other announcements to be emailed directly to subscribers

Help ICT Work for You

·         Provide class and club pages for children and teachers to develop

·         Provide quick and easy curriculum linked worksheets for lessons and homework (even interactive worksheets)

·         Allow interactive learning using curriculum based educational games

·         Provide downloadable teaching and learning resources in a Staff Zone

References

Snowcutter Web Design, Why does your school need a website, retrieved from http://www.snowcutter.co.uk/why.html on October 19^th, 2012.