WEBLOGS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
WEBLOG TYPES
Style
The interactive weblogs and the closed weblogs mostly based on whether the weblog author allows for comments on the weblog.
Content
Personal topics, political/social/economic commentaries, information technology, etc.
Personal journal, links galores, interactive commentary, one-way commentary, hodge-podge, etc.
According to the author
Experimenters and innovators.
Business weblogs behind the firewall
The business/marketing/promotion community
The education community; the self-expression/journaling crowd
Bloggers focused on a specific theme (movement,
event, topic or interest)
The non-traditional journalist
The professional journalist
Instructor weblog
Student weblog
ADVANTAGES
USES
Documenting one’s lifearti and forming
BENEFITS
BARRIERS
Easy to setup and administrate in contrast to other technologies
Instructors may have difficulty in assessing student participation in the weblog.
The teaching-learning process can continue outside the classroom
Providing commentary and opinions
Expressing deeply felt emotions
Maintaining community forums.
Who uses the weblog (instructors or students) and for what (writing or reading).
Makes easier to publish all types of resources (text, images, video, etc.)
Allow instant publishing with just one click
Can be updated easily, from anywhere
Have the ability to reach a large audience without losing information quality
24/7 access to information
No special blogging software is needed to create a weblog
Instructor does not need to periodically request the learning logs to the students.
Help create connections between students with diverse opinions and interests
Weblogs’ features (linking, replying, and tracking) make easier sharing knowledge and
information.
Discussions promote higher levels of thinking
Encourage informal communication, creativity and self-expression.
Prepares students better for the current labour market
The use of technology- based tools
learning weblogs should be
hosted in private servers
If the weblog is public, people that intentionally try to cause disruption by posting messages that are inflammatory, insulting, etc.
System administrators tend to be restrictive in installing new software.