It was great to see Alec again, and a true treat to hear him talking about using Weblogs for educational purposes (Link is to Alec’s powerpoint for the session). Here’s my summary.
Alec talked about what a blog is (a reverse chronological listing of posts). Many blogs can include comments and trackback (notifies your server when someone quotes you or talks about something you posted)
Advantages of using blogs as a tool
- little technical prowess required (no web design, HTML, FTP, server permission)
- Live, web based interface for instant publication
- Simple syndication
- Captures knowledge in a collection – Alec now writes about the pages he bookmarks instead of just bookmarking (rate of bookmarking has decreased).
- Reflective journaling.
- Promotes conversation, individual (and sometimes group) voice, info literacy, critical reading, critical thinking.
Great quote about blogging from Alec – Sometimes you feel like you’re talking to yourself, but that’s really OK!. Too right; sometimes I think that’s the whole point!
Origin of blogging:
- FOSS
- Open Content
- Free “as in beer” content
- Open publishing
Another great line from Alec – What do you get when you put 1000 monkeys in a room – Wikipedia, apparently.
The Invisible College (Elizabeth Manley) – we connect to many different people that we don’t meet in person.
Questions were raised regarding academic publishing regarding tenure and promotion, credibility and reliability.
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