EDUCATIONAL WEBLOGS

Extending the Conversation….

Tech-knowledge-y Tuesday
March 16, 2010
“When Tim Berners-Lee conceived the Web, he
envisioned it as a space in which both writing and
reading would occur. Web browsers proved easier
to develop then Web Editing tools. ……..The result
was that the Web sometimes became what he termed
a read-only medium. The latest blogging tools now
take us closer to his original intent of the Web as a
read-write medium.”
Learning and Leading with Technology
September 2003.
-Bull, Bull, & Kajder
 What is a blog?
A weblog (blog) is a web-based
publication consisting primarily of periodic
articles, most often in reverse
chronological order.“
~Wikipedia
 What is a blog?
Blogging is the posting of journal-like pages to a website.
While these pages can contain photos, hyperlinks, or
media, they are primarily focused on the easy ability to
post written thoughts to a website. The postings are
organized chronologically. Typically, a blog "post" can
be "commented" on by others, allowing for a dialogue
on the topic of the post. Teachers and educators have
used blogs to allow for what is commonly called "peer
review," meaning that students can post writings or
assignments to the web, and other students can
respond or encourage through the comment feature.
~Definition from http://SupportBlogging.com
 Advanced Lit Crit (Pd’s 1, 5, & 6)
http://blakefield.typepad.com/litcrit1 / http://blakefield.typepad.com/litcrit5 /

http://blakefield.typepad.com/litcrit6 /
 Is Racism the Only Issue?
As you all know, I can't take anymore literature that is mainly
about racism. I feel that we are forced to read too many
pieces of literature that are about racism over our four
years at Loyola. (I Know Why the Caged Bird Signs, A
lesson Before Dying, A Hope in the Unseen, Invisible Man,
etc.) I'm not saying that racism is an unimportant issue but
I just think there about other themes and ideas that we
should be exposed to. To be a well rounded student we
should learn as many different things as we can, instead of
just having one issue forced upon us year after year. Do
you agree with me or not? Why? What other books or
themes do you think we should be exposed to at Loyola?
Optional Question: What do you think the Ravens should do
in the draft?
I disagree with Matt. I really don’t think that we have read as many
books about racism as he believes. As Hayes stated, we’ve read a far
larger proportion of books with themes other than racism throughout
our high school careers. It seems to me that the books focusing on
racism are even assigned for summer reading because Loyola doesn’t
want its students to believe that they are going to a school where the
curriculum is based around racial struggle. Also, it may look as if
we’ve read so many books about racism because it’s such a constant
theme. Out of the many other books and stories that we’ve read, most
have varying and different themes, so none stand out like racism
does…and that’s not a bad thing! Racism is still a constant theme in
society so why not in the literature that we study in school? Also, I
think it’s very important to include many books about racial struggle in
a school that’s far from diverse. We can easily get caught up in our
privileged little white world at Loyola and these books bring us back to
reality, reminding us that not everyone has the opportunities that we
do. So, instead of blaming the school for giving us “too many” books
about racism, maybe we should be asking ourselves why were even
bothered by it?
 Women in the Home
Today we started to discuss some of the societal
changes since the 1950s concerning women and
their role as "housewives." Mr. Durkin gave us a
list of what women should do in order to be good
wives. Respond honestly and as if you were
talking to a male AND female audience, do you
think the list Mr. Durkin gave us is outdated or do
you think they are good guideline and why?
http://blakefield.typepad.com/litcrit1/2010/03/
women-in-the-home.html
 Exam Question Blog
If you were the teacher of our class, what
one question would you have added to the
midterm exam? Include the works and/or
critical theories you would have included
and why. Please give good reasoning for
your answer.
I believe that a good question could have come from some
sorts of classroom discussion as well. We spend a whole lot
of time talking about blogs and opinionated side of stories.
Instead of asking another factual related question, there
could have been a question where the student had to defend
an opinion based on any of the critical theories and why they
picked that theory. This brings in skills we learned from out
research papers and rewards those who participate in class
and/or pay attention all the time. An example of this could
have been:
In many of the short stories there were discussions
pertaining to the real intentions behind the protagonist’s
actions. Pick 3 of the short stories and through a critical lens
and discuss and defend your reasoning for the decision
making leading up to the climax of that story.
Yeah saints!
If I had to add one question to the exam, I would have
asked to compare and contrast Ras the Destroyer
and General Zaroff. Considering that the essays we
wrote were quite boring to write (except the Last
Duchess one), it would have been cool to write about
the two biggest bosses that we've covered last
semester. I mean who really cares about using the
feminist or deconstruction lens. I think Ras and
General Zaroff have similar views on human life but
their styles are so very different. Ras takes the form
of the untrained brute while Zaroff embodies the calm,
skilled hunter that is exacting in his profession. Now
that is something fun to write about. They are the real
men not Sir Thomas More.
 Greatness!
As a class, we have thoroughly discussed the
ramifications of Aristotle's definition of a tragic
hero. In the interest of reflection, define your
personal take on "greatness" considering all that
was said in class. By your personal definition,
would the following be great?
http://blakefield.typepad.com/litcrit5/2010/02/greatness.html
 Images in Society
Concerning the two pictures that we discussed in
class, who do these images appeal to the most
(who are they intended for)? Do you think we
should censor these images? Why or Why not?
50 Cent, Seventeen Magazine. (I know that the
seventeen magazine front cover is different, but
what are you thoughts about this cover?)
http://blakefield.typepad.com/litcritdurkin6/2008/09/images-in-socie.html
 According to Kohler

 http://blakefield.typepad.com/apgov/
 What are weblogs?

Common Features:
I. a type of website that is EASY and QUICK to
create (don’t have to learn HTML or web
authoring software…i.e. FrontPage,
Dreamweaver etc.)
2. able to instantly publish to the web
3. ability to personalize layouts (templates/skins)

Common Features by Anne Davis, NECC 2004

 What are weblogs?
Common Features:
4. organized by time (chronologically backwards)
5. it is organized with dated entries (each entry is
time-stamped)
6. allows for archiving of previous posts (great
for tracking progress or record keeping)

Common Features by Anne Davis, NECC 2004

 What are weblogs?

Common Features:
7. organized by posts (a.k.a. entries, postings)
8. posts are usually short and frequently posted

Common Features by Anne Davis, NECC 2004

 What are weblogs?

Common Features:
9. readers can often respond or react through
“comment” feature
10. encourage active participation

Common Features by Anne Davis, NECC 2004

 What are weblogs?

Common Features:

11. The use of hypertext links is a common feature

• Diary of Samuel Pepys
http://www.pepysdiary.com/

12. Blogs open student writers to multiple means of

communication (multimedia friendly)

Common Features by Anne Davis, NECC 2004

Multimedia Friendly

Common Features by Anne Davis, NECC 2004

 Anatomy of a Weblog
 Banner
 Posts (entries)
 Comments
 Sidebar
 Links
 Recent comments
 Recent posts
 Categories
 Archives
 Pictures
 Other Gadgets (Polls, Chatbox, Maps, Weather, &
Much, much more…….)
 Pedagogy of Weblogs
 Constructivist tool for learning

 Weblogs expand the walls of the

classroom*

 Blogs archive the learning that

teachers and students do

Source: Will Richardson “Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice pgs. 27-29

 Pedagogy of Weblogs cont.
 Blogs are democratic tool that supports
different learning styles

 Weblogs can enhance the development

of expertise in a particular subject

 Blogs can teach students the new

literacies they will need to function in an
ever expanding information society

Source: Will Richardson “Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice pgs. 27-29

 Hoehler AP Govt.
http://blakefield.typepad.com/apgovt7/
 Flanigan Vocabulary
http://blakefield.typepad.com/pd3flanigan/ /
 MD History, Dziedzic
http://blakefield.typepad.com/apgovt7/
 Features of Typepad
 Template driven
 Multimedia friendly -can easily add
the following to posts:
 Files (PPT, Word, Excel, PDF’s,
pics, hyperlinks, video clips,
music/sound clips, etc.)
 Large storage space
 Lessons Learned
 Student Blogging Terms and Conditions Handout
 Give them models (also recognize great thoughts)
 What are your goals for the blog?
 How to tie it to good instructional practice?
 Think about how you will manage it
 What are your expectations in regards to student
responses? Time? Number? Quality?
 Be clear with expectations
 Set aside time to discuss in class as well
 Think big…Be Creative!
 Features of Typepad
 Protective features include:
 Password protection
 Email notifications of comments sent to
teacher
 Comments can be held for approval
 Banned word list (no comments will be
published that contain a word from this
list)
 Ban specific IP addresses
 Features of Typepad
 Students can be “guest authors”
 Allows them to contribute by
writing “entries”, adding content,
files, links etc.
 Guest author’s entries can be
held for teacher approval
 Blogs & Classroom Management
http://lbtechknowledgey.wikispaces.com/Weblogs
 Content Based Examples
http://lbtechknowledgey.wikispaces.com/Weblogs#Content Specific Examples
 Tech Tuesday

EDUCATIONAL WEBLOGS
Extending the Conversation….

Tom Durkin
Brian Kohler
Mike Lackner