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May/June
2003 - Web Logs (Blogs): A Primer and Applications in Education
By: Dr. Ray Schroeder, Professor
Emeritus/Director of the Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning,
University of Illinois at Springfield
Keywords: Web log; Blog; Education;
Information Exchange
Journalists, activists, poets,
researchers, musicians, students, and even Harvard professors are doing it.
Blogging, that is. Blogging is quickly becoming the hottest Web technology
to take off in the past couple of years. And, it is gaining momentum. There
are
now more than a million web logs (blogs) online. Earlier this year Google
bought out the leading blog development and hosting site, Pyra Lab’s
Blogger.com.
So, what are these blogs?
Blogs are web logs. They are, in fact, web pages that are generated in a
chronological fashion such as a paper log (as in a ship’s log). From
that common design element of periodically updated chronological postings
comes a wide array of applications ranging from personal reflection diaries
to chronicles of events to two-way communication hubs for learning communities.
[An example of a blog page – note the chronological postings]
How are blogs made?
How can these blogs be used in education?
What does the future hold for blogs?
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