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 Blogging 101:
Digital Journaling and Group
Projects
a presentation by
Patrick Douglas Crispen
NetSquirrel.com
 Our Goals
• Learn what blogs are and see how
they work
• Create our own blog at Google’s
blogger.com
• Discover some ways to integrate
blogging activities into our
curriculum
• Find some additional blog resources
• DO ALL OF THIS IN ENGLISH!
 Part One: Blogs

What they are and how they

work.
 What is a blog?
• A weblog, or simply a “blog,” is a web
application which contains periodic,
reverse chronologically ordered posts on a
common webpage.
• Blogs can be used as a
– Personal journal or diary.
– Class project page.
– Bookmarks or links page.
– Etc.
 Common blog features
• Headlines
• Time stamps
• Permanent links [or “permalinks”]
• Categories
• Searches
• RSS feeds
• COMMENTS
 Why blogs are cool
• They’re web-based.
– There’s no client software to download and
learn.
– You can update your blog from any Internet-
connected computer.
• They’re absurdly easy to use.
– You DON’T have to know or use HTML.
– You DON’T have to know or use FTP.
• They’re not solitary.
– The community of blogs and bloggers make up
a vast social network.
 Blogs v. Wikis
• Objective
– Blogs are a way to share personal information,
a way for the owner(s) to express themselves
to their target audience.
– Wikis are a means of sharing and editing data
[ideas, text, photographs] for the creation of
collaborative knowledge.
• Content creation and control
– Blog content creation and control falls to the
owner.
– Wiki content creation and control falls to the
audience [although there is an administrator.]
 Definitions
• Blog: A web log.
• Blogger: Someone who creates and
maintains a blog.
• Blogging: The process of creating and
maintaining a web log.
• Blogsphere/Blogosphere: The totality of
blogs; a community or social network of
blogs.
• Blogroll: A list of a blogger’s favorite
blogs, usually placed on the side of that
blogger’s blog.
Part Two: Blogger

http://www.blogger.com/
Setting Up Your First Blog
• Go to blogger.com
– Free blog hosting
site run by Google
• Click on the orange
“Create Your Blog
Now” arrow to get
started.
1. Create an Account
• Choose a user name.
– You’ll use this name to
sign in when you return.
• Enter a password.
• Key in a display name.
– This is the name that will
be used to sign your blog
posts.
• Key in your email address.
• Accept the terms of
service.
• Click on the orange
“Continue” button.
2. Name Your Blog
• Key in your blog’s title.
• Key in your blog’s URL.
– something.blogspot.com
• Key in the “captcha” word.
– Captcha is the squiggly
“completely automated
public Turing test to tell
computers and humans
apart” word that appears
on the page.
• Click on the orange
“Continue” arrow.
3. Choose a Template
• Choose a template.
– You can always
change your
template later.
• Click on the orange
“Continue” arrow.
4. Celebrate
• That’s it.
• No, really. That’s
it.
• Click on the orange
“Start Posting”
arrow to start your
first post.
Create a Post
• Creating a post is a
lot like composing
an email message.
• Key in the post’s
title.
• Then key in the
post’s text.
Formatting Your Post’s Text

• Formatting your post’s text is much like

formatting text in Microsoft Word or Outlook.
• You can add pictures, change fonts, add
hyperlinks, check your spelling, and much more.
 Post Your Post

• Scroll down and choose if you want to

allow people to post comments to your
post.
• Then click on the orange “Publish Post”
button.
Now What?
• That’s it. You’re
done.
• To view your
“finished” blog,
– Click on the “View
Blog” link or tab.
– Point your web
browser to your
blogspot address.
Our “Finished” Blog
 Coming Back for More

• Remember:
– blogger.com = where you make changes to your blog.
– blogspot.com = where you view your finished blog.
• The next time you return to blogger.com, key in
your username and password.
What’s Next?
• Click on the name
of your blog to see
a list of every post
you’ve made.
• Click on the green
plus sign icon to
create a new post.
• Click on the blue
gear icon to
change your blog’s
settings.
help.blogger.com
For more
information, visit
help.blogger.com
 Part Three:
Blogging in the Classroom
Ways to integrate blogging
activities into your curriculum
 Blogs and ISTE NETS·S
ISTE NETS’ technology foundation
standards for students:
– Basic operations and concepts
– Social, ethical, and human issues
– Technology productivity tools
– Technology communications tools
– Technology research tools
– Technology problem-solving and
decision-making tools

Source: http://cnets.iste.org/currstands/cstands-netss.html
 “Best Bets for Classroom
Blogging”
Ask your students to
– Reflect on their reading or classroom
discussions.
– Investigate topics online and then report on
their research.
– Record group progress on a project.
– Talk about shared classroom experiences.
– Copy and paste thought-provoking quotes from
other blogs, and then offer their own thoughts
on the topic.
– Invite professional writers to edit their blogs,
or provide feedback.

Source: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial037print.shtml
 Blog = Journal?
• Blogs are just online versions of paper-
based journals, right?
• WRONG!
• Done well, blogs assignments give your
students
– An audience.
– A purpose for writing [beyond the grade.]
– Legitimate peripheral participation in a topic-
related community of practice.
• If your assignment is just “write something,
post it, and I’ll grade it,” skip the blog and
give the students some college ruled paper.
 Example 1: Blog Groups
• Divide your students into “blog groups"
according to their interests (national
politics, entertainment, sports, technology,
etc.)
• Assignment: Write a weekly journal that
relates to the blog group’s topic.
• Let your students create their own rubrics.
– The groups collectively decide guidelines for
each post's content, style, and length.
– This promotes student ownership and stronger
engagement.

Source: http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/?q=node/233
 Example 1 (Cont’d): Blog
Groups
• Additional assignment: Each blog
group should create a blog roll.
– Identify other blogs whose focus is
related to your group’s topic.
– “Discourse norming”

Source: http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/?q=node/233
 Example 2: Personal
Journals
• Give each student a personal blog.
• Assignment: Post reflections about
your development in the course.
– Responses
– Questions
– Thoughts about the week's reading or
activity

Source: http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/?q=node/233
 Example 2 (Cont’d):
Journals
• Start each class by reading from selected
journals to generate discussion.
• “Students better understand their
rhetorical purposes for writing when they
envision their writing within a real context.
This context—the sense of having an
audience who want to engage with the
writer's ideas—also helps to create a
rhetorical purpose for writing (beyond just
fulfilling an assignment).”
Source: http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/?q=node/233
Part Four: The Next Step

Blogger is a great place to

start, but there are many
more resources out there.
 Some popular blog hosts
• I recommend Blogger [
http://blogger.com/] as good starting
point.
• Other popular blog hosts include:
– TypePad [http://www.typepad.com/]
– LiveJournal [http://www.livejournal.com/]
– AOL Hometown [http://hometown.aol.com/]
• For a canonical list of blog hosts, check
out http://tinyurl.com/6mfc3
 Blogging server software
The 800 pound gorilla in the server-side
blog software market is MovableType
[http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/]
– Teacher/Single classroom: $39.95
– 300 enrolled students: $299.95
– 1,000 enrolled students: $699.95
– >1,000 enrolled students: $999.95
– Multi-school and district licenses are available.
 For more information
• Check out Darlene Fichter’s “Blogging Basics”
PowerPoint presentation at
http://tinyurl.com/2c7q6
• For even more information, check out Molly
Holzschlag’s three-and-a-half hour “Learning
Blogger” video tutorial at http://lynda.com/
– $29.95 on CD
– $25 a month to access all of Lynda.com’s 100+ tutorials.
– FULL DISCLOSURE: The author of this presentation is
also an author at Lynda.com.
• Also visit http://www.technorati.com/ and
http://blogpulse.com/ for what’s currently popular
in the blog world.
That’s all, folks!
 Our Goals
• Learn what blogs are and see how
they work
• Create our own blog at Google’s
blogger.com
• Discover some ways to integrate
blogging activities into our
curriculum
• Find some additional blog resources
• DO ALL OF THIS IN ENGLISH!
 Fair Use Disclaimer
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following the Fair Use Guidelines for
Educational Multimedia. Certain
materials are included under the Fair
Use exemption of the U.S. Copyright
Law.  Further use of these materials
and this presentation is restricted.
 Blogging 101:
Digital Journaling and Group
Projects
a presentation by
Patrick Douglas Crispen
NetSquirrel.com