Mike j's Blog: Blogging for students part 1.

As part of the Foundation Degree in Media Production we require students to blog as part of their course work. This post explains what blogs are, how they work, and why you have to blog. There is a second post that covers the practicalities of student blogging.

It's important that you know:

What a blog is
Why you are blogging
How to blog
What they need to blog
How the blog will be assessed

What is a blog?

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketches (sketchblog), videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Micro-blogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

taken from wikipedia.

Commoncraft have produced an excellent guide to blogging.

But blogging is only half the story. It's the filtering and finding of information - the 'broadcasting' or distribution of your blog, that makes up the other half. This is achieved using RSS. Or Really Simple Syndication. Lee Lefever (sounding rather tinny) explains again.

How can I use RSS? There are several ways. The first is by using a 'Reader'. Since we will be using Blogger.com which is owned by Google, its easiest to use the Google Reader since you'll already have a Google ID or email address. Once more (and I tried to find someone else to explain this, but Lee's version was way better an the others.)

Or you can create a web page that updates with the blogs or 'feeds' that you subscribe to. Examples of this are Netvibes, Pageflakes or My Yahoo. Google also offers the Google page. I like Netvibes - here is one I use to share FD Media Production blog feeds. The choice is really yours. Experiment, it's all free!

I favour using the Google Reader. Since I have a Gmail account, I use iGoogle and have set up my iGoogle desk top with the Google Reader widget. That way when I open my browser (its my browser's Home page) and I can see my Google desktop with all recent posts from feeds I follow. I can also see activity on my Facebook account, Gmail account, Twitter etc etc.

(Here's more about iGoogle, using a portable version of Firefox installed on a USB stick, and getting the most from Firefox. OK its geeky but its useful I think. The only way to 'get' this technology is to use it. Take it bit by bit. You don't have to get it all immediately!

Why blog? The best way to answer this is to think of the short term and the longer term. Here's the short term logic to using blogs rather than essays.

Traditionally students write to show that they have understood what they have been taught. It's also part of the way we assess and qualify the student. As part of the course we could ask you to write an essay. However with the Internet we have (arguably) a better way of you presenting your work and ideas, since you can embed media and link to items that have informed, inspired you or support your ideas. These elements are drawn together by your reflection on them. A key part of that is to show your work as part of similar work that has or is being done (placing your work in the context of others). Reflective writing, and practice, is necessary in order to develop 'learning autonomy'. This is where you take responsibility for your learning and development. Students usually find reflective writing difficult if you need extra help, learning support is provided at university and colleges.

Since we are working in an area (the Media), that's currently undergoing radical and constant change, you need to be part of that! Utilising the web, like this, is the most effective way of being up to date and part of the zeitgeist. There is an employability issue underlying this too - you need to understand the theory and practice of this way of working - Web 2.0. It's likely to play a large part in the way you consume and create media now and in the future. Your blog might well morph into your online portfolio and therefore become part of the supporting material for a job/freelance application. It might say more about you than a traditional CV. Here are some interesting comments, taken from the Film and Digital Exchange website, about creating an online portfolios from Chris Martin an animator and motion graphics artist.

Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.

The history of Web 2.0