In order to understand the functioning of weblogs, the first thing to be done is to address their nature. In this line of thought, literature shows some attempts to classify weblogs in terms of different features. For instance, in [7] the proposed classification is based on two dimensions: style and content. Regarding style, there are the interactive weblogs and the closed weblogs mostly based on whether the weblog author allows for comments on the weblog. In relation to the content, there are many sorts of weblogs: personal topics, political/social/economic commentaries, information technology, etc. Merging the styles and the contents, some types are suggested: personal journal, links galores, interactive commentary, one-way commentary, hodge-podge, etc
Focusing on educational weblogs, in this paper we propose the following classification according to the role (instructor or student) played by the writer of the weblog in the teaching/learning process:
• Instructor weblog: weblogs written by instructors are mainly used as an additional communication channel to share information with students. Instructor weblogs usually contain course content, course management information, general commentary to all students about their learning progress, etc.
• Student weblog: weblogs written by students are basically learning weblogs or project weblogs. A learning weblog [21] is “a learning diary, created concurrently with the learning experience, and reporting on the learning content as wells as the process (including time taken, sources used, and so forth)”. A project weblog, often authored by a team of students, documents the project progress and findings.