blog (from Web log) "A Web site that contains dated text entries in reverse chronological order (most recent first) about a particular topic. Blogs serve many purposes from online newsletters to personal journals to 'ranting and raving.' They can be written by one person or a group of contributors. Entries contain commentary and links to other Web sites, and images as well as a search facility may be included. Blogs may also contain video (vlog)." (copyright TechWeb Dictionary, 2007)
Here's an example of my blog as a personal journal.
First, a short note about the months of lag time between my recent blogs. It seems everything has been a rush since my last blog. Just look at my archive on the right side of this window and take notice of the posting dates. My last blog was months ago! I have to give credit to my niece, Liz, who commented about this on one of my earlier postings.
That winter storm resulted in 14 inches...the largest single snow event our area had seen in several years. Since then, time has simply flown. Note: Serious bloggers make the time to blog frequently. It keeps their readers coming back for more. In my defense, here's a brief summary of recent events. From December through March, we were sleep deprived. (Comes with having a baby.) By April, Isabel had started sleeping through the night.
Isabel was baptized in April.
Just before the baptism, and during my Spring Break, we drove to Morrilton, Arkansas. There, we visited with Isabel's Great-grandmother. May Hope would have turned 100 this November.
How lucky we were to have those moments captured in photos and video, as May Hope passed away in mid-May. We are cherishing the memories of our annual visits through the years, and especially this last visit that included four generations of the Moose family.An exceptionally talented women, May Hope's funeral was referred to as a celebration of life. Sherriann and I feel truly blessed that we were able to introduce her to her 26th great-grandchild, Isabel.
At this moment, Isabel has been put to bed, peacefully sleeping after a dinner that included rice cereal.
She's started on the rice cereal three nights ago. And, even though her gums aren't showing it, she gives every indication that she will start to teethe in the days to come.Some blogs may be short, but quite informative, entertaining, educational, etc. Here's an example of a brief blog made up of nothing more than a few links and ending with a silly quote.
The OMG Site of the Day
All My Faves
You'll understand why it's an "Oh My God!" site once you see it. Go ahead and see the list of Blogs and Wikis, as that's the topic at hand.
Online Tool of the Day
NetLingo - The Internet Dictionary
Bookmark of the Day
Webopedia: Online Computer Dictionary of Computer and Internet Terms and Definitions
Blog Site of the Day
Edublogs.org
Educator Site of the Day
http://wizard.4teachers.org/
The Web Worksheet Wizard and Project Poster have combined to make Web Poster Wizard. This FREE tool allows educators to create a lesson, worksheet, or class page and immediately publish it online. Teachers can also set up classes and assign projects to students. Students complete the assignments by creating their own online projects or reports. Teachers and students can even add images and links to their pages.
Cheesy Web Site of the Day
Instant Rimshot (to punctuate the silly quote below)
And finally, the Quote du Jour
"If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody's there to hear it, I hope it lands on a philosophy professor." -Stephen Colbert
Now, let's get serious about Wikis and Blogs. The following resources should give you a basic grounding in both. I hope you enjoy the multimedia resources both creative and information, whether you are a novice or advanced computer user. I like embedding educational videos to blogs when introducing new topics to learners.
Introducing Wikis
Wikis in Plain English by CommonCraft.com
A classic video discussing the birth and growth of a Wiki is called Heavy Metal Umlaut NOTE: Some profane text, an example of wiki vandalism, begins at 4:25 and is discussed in detail from 4:55-5:40. While this section is informative, I would never use this in a classroom with students. I mention it here only to make educators aware of the content in this one section.
Tour Google Docs and think about the possibilities for collaborative projects. The Share button allows you to input one or more email addresses of those you wish to invite as collaborators on any project. The Tools drop-down menu contains a Revision History tool that you should remember from the discussion in the Heavy Metal Umlaut video above. This tool allows you to see when and by whom all revisions where made.
Introducing Blogging
Blogs in Plain English by CommonCraft.com
Additional CommonCraft videos can be found on The Common Craft Show. The Common Craft Show is a series of short explanatory videos by Lee and Sachi LeFever. Their goal is to fight complexity with simple tools and plain language. They call their format "paperworks" and publish a new video about once a month. Check them out.
To conclude this brief introduction to Wikis and Blogs, I was asked to pass along the JCPS MEDIA SERVER link to JCPS teachers. In addition, there is a JCPS History - Wiki and Blog link under construction.
CODA: I found these last two videos interesting. You will too, if you have questions about the impact of Web 2.0 applications on learning and education.
Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us (just under 5 minutes in length)
A Vision of Students Today Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University. (just under 5 minutes in length)
You may be wondering, "Why was I asked to teach a session about Wikis & Blogs?" I don't know, but maybe the answer resides inside this chronology:
TLI ELFH675 Web Design Project Created 2005
My first blog Created Summer2006
WikiSpaces Created Fall2006
RealTravel Created Spring2007 (I rarely go anywhere by the looks of things)
My 2007 iWeb site Created throughout 2007 using an Mac iBook G4 with iLife06.
IFL Conference 2007 Blog - Day 2 Created June2007 for my iWeb Blog Archives
Welcome Includes a embedded video. Created Oct2007 using the new iWeb'08 on a Mac OS X (Leopard) on the MacBook Pro.
Here are all the links used in this blog:
(Do you really need to see these links? They are all either in AllMyFaves, or presented as active links throughout this posting)
HERE'S the VIDEO stuff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI&feature=user
http://www.youtube.com/user/leelefever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o
HERE'S the BLOG stuff
http://www.blogger.com
http://edublogs.org/
http://www.wikispaces.com
http://jhamilt2.wikispaces.com/
http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/umlaut.html
http://lifelonglearner-learningtechnology.blogspot.com/
http://missliz75.blogspot.com/
ADDITIONAL BLOG SITES (go back to AllMyFaves, it's like "one-stop shopping")
http://wordpress.com/
http://www.technorati.com/
http://www.bloglines.com/
http://www.blogspirit.com/en/index.php
http://www.xanga.com/
http://www.typepad.com/
http://www.blog.com/
http://www.blogsome.com/
http://www.tblog.com/
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