Blog is an advanced version of website at the Internet and World Wide Webs which is one of the most popular source of information dissemination upon the Internet. Among the millions of the websites on Internet, overwhelming majority of the websites is run as the blog website. Due to the dynamic nature of the blogs, the importance and the application of blogs for the different purposes is increasing, enormously.
Since the remarkable and noteworthy research, conducted in Year 2013, upon the usage of the teaching resources in blogs and web pages for the education and learning, the education community has started to devote more and more attention for the usage of the blogs for the cause of spreading education.
Before the start of the detailed discussion about the procedural and customized usage of blogs for the education and learning, let’s have a brief bird’s eye view of the understanding of blog.
What is blogging – Blog Definition!
Among various dynamic, static entities and live units upon the Internet and World Wide Web, blogs are the websites which can be updated, regularly and easily, either daily or even many times a day. The blogs are, typically, operated & run by the individuals or small groups and its content is written in an informal style – like the conversational manner – as if you are talking to the readers. In other words, you may update or add newer material to your website, even on daily basis or many times a day.
The blog sites have the built-in ability to work as the discussion, informational or as the communicative styled resources. The blogs can be used by the various individuals or the entities to have the exchange of their respective ideas and opinions.
Applications of Blogs for Various Purposes
Typically, the blogs are used for the various purposes, but some of the most important usage of the bogs are; general information, news, politics, law, education, entertainment, marketing, finance, business, health information, personal relationships, historical events & stories, consultation, kids blogs, educational website for kids, cartoon & caricatures, blogging for money, pictorial news & views, technological information and so on.
After the wide spread application of the state of the art technology in the education, success of the academic endeavor depends, largely, upon the precise and the meticulous application of Internet and other related resources. More and more academicians and the educationists are diverting more and more attention toward the usage of Internet and websites and blogs.
In general, with the arrival of the Internet in the easy access of the common man, every individual or the entity, willing to impress the public opinion, makes the blog on the Internet and start working upon it. Gone are the days when the website making and the blogging was the high priced and luxurious job. Now, you may create even a free blog and can be shared, easily and comfortably, even without any cost. Particularly, the education blogs are seen as the most convenient and workable solution to many of the problems of academic circles as the dynamic platform for the academic collaboration, resource sharing, educational discussion and even for the detailed and the prolonged question answer sessions among the teacher, students and other stakeholders of the academic World.
Current Position of Application of Technology by Educationists and Academicians
As per the study, conducted and reported in Year 2013, 74% of the educators and the academicians are of the view that application of the technology, during the dissemination and flow of education, may motivate and help the teachers, educators, students and learners to strengthen the learning concepts. Out of this huge figure, the 68% of the educationists believe and show deep interest to enhance the usage of the state of the art technology for boosting their educational efforts in and around class room.
This is the firm belief of academicians in the change in the academic norms, the itcnework.org reported, that there was an increase of 4.68% in the Online class enrollment. This trend goes on as per the prediction that during the years 2013 and 2014, 25 million students were expected to be enrolled in the Online courses. Universities and other higher education institutions are taking the lead to apply the blogging, teacher websites and other web pages to facilitate the learning while the other academic institutions are also increasingly applying the blogging for the purpose.
This is significant that more and more teachers and educators are applying the bogs to strengthen their efforts for the spread of education and to enhance their depth into the student community. Understanding the importance of the blogs, more and more academician and educational institutions are devoting their scarce resources for the development of the blogs for their schools and institutions. Many third party bodies and the associations, interesting in the promotion of education, are also striving their best for the application of blogs. This is why; many new and the very strong blogs are emerging to strengthen the student, teacher and education relationship.
Different Types of Blogs and How They Are Run?
As the result of the general awareness of the Internet and its usage for the academic activities, countless number of student site and teacher created resources have been erected and are being erected even on daily basis. Understanding the significance and their consequential achievement of different direct or indirect objectives of blogging, various individual or the academic entities are increasingly creating and developing the edu blogs.
Commonly, the teacher created resources or education blogs are developed, operated and run for the academic activities but may not be owned or administered by the school or academic institutions. In general, the educational blogs may be owned or administered for the following purposes:
- Academic Institutions
- Teachers or academician’s own personal blog or teacherweb
- Blogs, owned or administered as student site, themselves
- Different wider and commonly owned outside platforms for publishing the assignments, homework and academic discussion groups
- Classroom edublogs for academic collaboration, sharing of the educational materials and for the general discussion
- Education community blogs
- Student unions’ blogs
Different Applications of EduBlogs
There are countless applications and usages of the edu blogs, mainly created for learning and other academic activities. Practically, you may develop and erect any type of blog for the purpose or may make the diverse applications of the blogs. But, in broad spectrum, when the blogs are created for the education, learning or wider academic enhancement, there may be different usages of the bogs, such as:
- For Reporting Class Room Activities for and of Students
- Blogs for Uploading Teaching Materials for Future and Previous Class by Teachers
- Edu Blogs for Assignments for the Students and Parents
- Blogs for Feedback from Parents
- Blogs Topics for Question Answer Session Both from Teachers and Students
- Blogs for Involvement of Students Even After Class Room Activity
- Blogs for Enhancement of Students’ Writing Techniques
- Blogs for Teaching to Students about Publishing Online and on Internet
- Social & Extra Curricular Activities on Blogs
- Training to Use Internet Protocol and Etiquette While Working upon Blog
- Non Academic But Related to General Academic Uplift with Blogs
- Helping Materials on Blogs
- Blogs for Advising the Students For Future Tests
- Non-Formal Academic and Learning Counseling Blogs
- Material on Blogs for Students Other Than Class or School
- Material on Blogs for General Welfare of Students of School
- Job Placement on Blogs with Help of Job Websites
- Light Refreshments upon Blogs
- Blogs for Planning for Academic Tenure
- Usage for Enhancing and Boosting Academic Institution’s Face Lifting in General Public
- Application of Blogs for Student’s Participation in School Politics
- Blogs for Professional Enhancement of Faculty’s Personal Aims and Career Developments
How to Start a Blog for Students Community
Commonly, the school blogs are made the news blog or the news forums for the students of the school, students and the community around the school. In such news blogs, all types of the news can be covered, such as, the national, economical, global, the business, job market, the employment opportunities, academic admissions, development and advancement of the technology.
The schools must make the blogs so interesting that students may not waste time in surfing the other blogs or the websites for the interesting stuff. Good blogs may offer all the relevant information and the news to students which are required for their educational development and advancement.
How Blogs Can be Made More Interesting and Interactive?
The major issue or the challenge before the blog administrators is to make them so interesting to keep and retain the interest of the viewers and visitors in them. There are countless methods and the mechanisms to maintain the students’ interest and concentration in the blog activities. Some of the significant instruments to make the blogs more and more interesting, thought-provoking and attractive are:
- Full scale coverage of the school activities with the help of the videos, photos, the images, rating plugins, jokes, caricatures, comments and discussion sessions.
- Allowing the different faculty members and senior students to post in the blog
- Sharing the information of various academic activities and programs at the blogs
So, let’s explore the platforms which are used to create the blogs.
Platforms for Creating Blogs
Though, some of the permanent blogs are created by paying for the domain and the hosting facility. But, most of the educational blogs are created for free, as free blog by applying the facility, offered by the different platforms. Some of the most popular type of the platforms for creating the free blog are:
- WordPress
- Bloggers
- Edublogs
- Weebly
- Tumbler
- KidBlog
- And many more best free blog sites.
In addition to that, if the free blog websites are used for the various purposes, the countless plugins are available at the WordPress.Org or other sites which may be uploaded and published to make the blog more and more attractive one.
Major Challenging Requirement for Blogging in Education
As explored in a study, the major and foremost challenge for applying the blogging for the uplift of educational standard is that majority of the academicians, educators, teachers and even the school administrators are not aware of the followings:
- Importance and significance of a blog for the of the educational and academic activities
- How the free blog is created or set up?
- How to apply it for the education?
Offer to Have Free Help from Writer for Establishing Educational Blog Website
Being the experienced and skillful researcher, higher education academician, sales & management trainer, finance specialist turned blogger and administrator, the writer is always available for the missionary help of the academicians and educators. If any of the academician or the teacher of any level is willing to get help to create and run blog for their activities, you may contact the writer.
For the next one month, free support and training for creating and managing the edu blogs will be extended, free of cost, to all those, willing to start new blog. This support and training will be offered, preferably to the groups, or in rare cases to the deserving individual on first come, first have basis. So, contact the writer immediately at the first instant.