Why Blog? Covers the professional and personal advantages of blogging in higher education.

1. Why Blog?
Personal and Professional Fulfilment
James Little, SDDU
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2. Overview
• What is blogging?
• Why blog
– Uses of blogs across society
– Blogs in an educational context
• How to get started blogging – what platforms
and tips and tricks
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3. What is Blogging?
Where did blogs come from?

4. What is Blogging?
• Before the internet or online communities
(BBS) people kept diaries! (and still do)
• Historically diaries were kept as a personal
reflection on life
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5. What is Blogging?
Source:
http://web.archive.org/web/19980128045041/http:/www-white.media.mit.edu/~pinhanez/personal/ accessed June 2012
From around 1994 early-
users of the internet started
using bulletin board
services and web pages to
store their reflections.
An early example is Claudio
Pinhanez's "Open Diary”
started in 1994

6. What is Blogging?
• Where did ‘blog’ come from?
• "Blog" is …a contraction of "weblog," generally
agreed to have been invented by Jorn Barger
as a name for his web site in December 1997
• The domain name blogger.com was registered
on June 22, 1999 by Pyra Labs who wanted to
offer an easy to use service.
Source:
http://web.archive.org/web/19980128045041/http:/www-white.media.mit.edu/~pinhanez/personal/ accessed June 2012

7. What is Blogging?

8. Blogs Today
Originally simple text pages sometimes with
pictures:
Source:
http://web.archive.org/web/19980128045041/http:/www-white.media.mit.edu/~pinhanez/personal/ accessed June 2012

9. Blogs Today
Source:
http://www.historytoday.com/blog accessed November 2013

10. Why Blog?
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11. Uses of blogs across society:
Evolved from being a personal record to:
• Contribute your personal thoughts and ideas
rather than passively consume
• Promote a company/product (push of
information)
• Connect with the public and invite comment
• Represent political parties / movements
• Enable a connection with like-minded people
• Used as a new format to publish mass-
information (e.g. newspapers)
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g

12. Types of Blogs
niche vs. LARGE
Personal
Single focus
Commercial
Wide range of topics

13. Professional
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/forstaff/news/article/4099/My_Week_%E2%80%93_28_October_2013

14. Personal
http://www.beppegrillo.it/

15. Informational
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog

16. Commercial
http://graduate-blog.jlpjobs.com/

17. Blogging in Education
Can be used in all the same ways, plus more!
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18. Blogging in Education
Professionally:
Build a profile
Share your thoughts and ideas informally
Reflect upon your work
Connect with others

19. Blogging in Education
Research:
Promote /disseminate
Keep a record of your journey

20. Blogging in Education
Teaching and Learning:
Reflect upon your own teaching practice
Share resources
Enable students to:
Reflect using their own blog for tasks or
projects
Formative and summative assessment
Capture reflection on learning

21. Blogging in Education
Detailed examples in the case
book:
• Institute of Psychological
Sciences
• LUB
• School of Performance and
Cultural Industries
• School of Computing
• Many more…

22. How to get
started…
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23. Blogs – Platforms Available
• Researcher@Leeds new blogging platform
coming soon (WordPress)
• Access for any research staff
• Training from will be from ISS.
• Contact Paula Fallon: p.fallon@leeds.ac.uk
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24. Blogs – Platforms Available
• Google’s www.blogger.com
• Take note of ISS Cloud services policy
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25. Blogs – Platforms Available
• WordPress www.wordpress.org
• Take note of ISS Cloud services policy
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26. Blogs – Tips and Tricks
• Post regularly
• Tell a story – think about your audience
• Interact with your readers (reply to
comments)
• Find blogs similar and comments
• Emulate features from other blogs
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27. Blogs – The future?
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28. Thank You
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29. Any Questions?
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