When people ask me how to start blogging, I am not always sure what to say. Do they want to know the physical aspects of creating a blog? Do they know what blogging is and how to talk about it?
Since my talk yesterday I have already received three requests for information on how to begin implementing blogs into the classroom. I believe the questions are more on the physical aspects: How do I get one? Where do I get one? Then what?
Anyone can get free blog software and hosting from WordPress. The site will walk you through signing up for a blog and creating a blog, which is on their software. It will also put your blog on their site (called hosting).
This blog, all my blogs, were created and are maintained using WordPress. I like WordPress and it has grown and improved as new technologies have been introduced. One thing I like about WordPress is that the update feature now only requires that you push a button. There is an automatic installation of the update for you. Eeezy-peezy as we used to say.
If you want to introduce your students to blogs, there is a short YouTube video called Blogs in Plain English. He talks a bit fast for ESL students, but the description is fairly simple and clear.
Reading About Blogs
Tech and Learning has a text-based introduction with lots of links. It’s teacher friendly (though not higher ed) and has some good points.
Anton Zuiker has a Blogging 101 which begins with a short history of the blog, introduces the vocabulary with definitions for parts of blogs–what is a post?, reasons for reading and writing blogs, and a list of additional readings.
The first article in Zuiker’s list is Rebecca Blood’s “Weblogs: A History and Perspective. When I began introducing blogs to my students, this is the historical article I shared with them. If you have a lot of students with minimal internet experience, this is a good solid article to introduce them to the history of blogs and how we came to be where we are.
The best thing about blogs for me is that I can share what I have learned with others, some of whom I will never meet.