Blogs - An Introduction

How do blogs work?

The appeal of blogs is their ease of use. Bloggers (those who blog) do not need to know the HTML programming language or own programs like Dreamweaver. Instead, all that is needed is an account with a blog hosting website, of which many quality ones are free.

Creating an entry, or post, feels like typing in a word processing program, and publishing the entry on the blog usually takes just one or two clicks.

Once a post is live, visitors to the blog can read the post and leave comments. Visitors who have their own blogs may also add posts to their blogs based on the original post. When this happens it is customary to link back to the original post. Linking back allows people to travel forward and backward through a conversation.

Blogs frequently get referred to as online journals or diaries simply chronically a person's life in a more public forum. However, much of the best blogging is reflective, a blogger reading something, considering the idea from her own point of view, and adding her thoughts to the greater conversation.

Sounds great, but why should we or our students blog?