WEB SERVICE BLOGS

 Blog 

•   Blog is a discussion or informal website published on the World Wide Web.

        •    It consists of discrete, informal diary-style text entries 

•  Posts are displayed in reverse chronological order.

        • Art blogs, photo blogs, mp3 blogs, Edu-blogs are popular. 

• Teachers can use blogs as an instructional aid

 TYES OF BLOGS 

Personal Blog: Ongoing diary or commentary by an individual. This is the most common blog type. 

Corporate and Organizational Blog: It is used for private or business purpose. It enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally marketing, branding and public relation purpose.

Microblogs: Microblog is a broadcast medium that exists in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregated file size. Microblogs "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links". These small messages are sometimes called micro posts.

 By Genre: Focus on particular subjects. E.g.: Political blog, travel blog, educational blog. 

By Media: Vlog -contains Videos, Photo Blog-contains photos, Link log -comprising links.

By Device: Defined by which type of device is used for composite. Mob logs- written by mobile device.

 Educational Blogs - The advent of web publishing tools that facilitated the posting of content by non-technical users led to the emergence and growth of blogs. A blog is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web and consisting of discrete entries ("posts") which are displayed in it. Until 2009 blogs were usually the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small84 group, and often covered a single subject. More recently "multi-author blogs" (MABs) have developed, with posts written by large numbers of authors and professionally edited. 

An educational blog is a blog created for educational purposes. Edu-blogs archive and support student and teacher learning by facilitating reflection, questioning by self and others, collaboration and by providing contexts for engaging in higher-order thinking. Blogs can be useful tools for sharing information and tips among co-workers, providing information for students, or keeping in contact with parents. Common examples include blogs written by or for teachers, blogs maintained for the purpose of classroom instruction, or blogs written about educational policy. Educators who blog are sometimes called edubloggers. The new use of weblogs are largely interest driven and attract readers who have similar interests.

 Uses of blogs: 

 Some bloggers use their blogs as a learning journal or a knowledge log to gather relevant information and ideas, and communicate with other people.

  Some bloggers use blogs to record their own personal life, and express emotions or feelings

 Some instructors use blogs as an instructional and assessment tool, and blogs can be used as a task management tool. 

 Blogs are used to teach individuals about writing for an audience as they can be made public. 

 There are many teacher-related blogs on the internet where teachers can share information with one another.

  Many teachers share materials and ideas to meet the diverse needs of all learners in their classrooms.

  Teachers can often rely on these sources to communicate with one another regarding any issues in education that they may be having, including classroom management techniques and policies.

  Blogs often acts as a support system for teachers where they can access ideas, tools, and gain support and recognition from other professionals in their field. 

 Weblogs can provide a forum for reading, writing and collaborating.

  Edu blogs can be used as instructional resources, in which teachers can post tips, explanations or samples to help students learn. 

 The use of blogs in the classroom allows both the teacher and student the ability to edit and add content at any time

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Limitations of Blogs

  Student blogs often include uncorrected inaccuracies of information.

  Students can be used blogs to instigate online bullying

.  Student blogs are difficult to archive or index.

  Time consuming. 

 Computer addiction. 

 Lack of network will affect the learning process.