IntroToBlogging

This wiki page was created for a presentation introducing weblogs, social software, etc... to students.

= Open, Connected & Social = Blogs, wikis, social software, open content, and "Web 2.0"

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/3/5064908_1f3171b2d3.jpg

Photo by Kris Krug

Weblogs
Weblogs in Plain English video by CommonCraft

What is a weblog?

 * a personal content management system
 * a tool to foster and grow collaboration
 * an easy way for individuals (and groups) to publish content without technical knowledge or experience
 * conventional weblogs are hybrids of online journals and magazines - from one person's (or a small group's) perspective
 * Brian Lamb's Intro to Weblogs

How does it differ from discussion boards?



 * Discussion boards are usually without a unifying direction - low signal:noise ratio
 * Weblogs typically have a specific direction or focus (an individual's perspective and experience), and others are welcome to participate - high signal:noise ratio
 * Weblogs form rich, deeply linked networks between trusted sources (individuals and groups)

What good is a weblog?

 * entertainment BoingBoing.net
 * news (and newsiness) Huffington Post
 * outboard brain D'Arcy Norman's weblog
 * project communication Project Blogging
 * social networking Wikipedia list of social networking websites
 * communities of practice Anthropology community resources
 * conference sharing WWDC posts on Technorati

= Personal Knowledge Management =

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/35/65551301_24280c9c10.jpg

Photo by D'Arcy Norman

Outboard Brain
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/114/288091449_928248ac77.jpg

Photo by Aigarius

= How most people handle it = http://farm1.static.flickr.com/78/164175205_9951e05eb6.jpg

Photo by Victoria Peckham

Files
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/202/478725601_e1cdf720cd.jpg

Photo by D'Arcy Norman

Books and assorted media
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/168/478706218_0bd29ccc85.jpg

Photo by D'Arcy Norman

Why?

 * archival
 * flexible(ish)
 * hard to search
 * hard to share

= How Web 2.0 handles it =



Tags
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/168/478836539_cf6637841c.jpg

Networks
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/40/102413554_40bc8bbd1a_d.jpg

Photo by Toby Maloy

Why?

 * archival, but also fresh
 * flexible
 * easy to search
 * easy to share (and collaborate, and build upon)

How?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/2829260360_93980305c1.jpg

Image by Merlin Mann

Open, Connected & Social
http://www.darcynorman.net/files/images/OpenConnectedSocial_screengrab.png

A presentation, in four parts, on the topics of creating and using content openly, reusing existing resources, and connecting content and people in a decentralized, flexible model. Your tour guides for this ride are Brian Lamb from UBC, Jim Groom from University of Mary Washington, D'Arcy Norman from the University of Calgary, and Alan Levine from the New Media Consortium.

= Collaborative Knowledge Management =

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/25/65551345_363ba7aef4.jpg

Photo by D'Arcy Norman

blogs
dynamic networks formed within the "blogosphere"


 * get your own blog at any number of free services
 * UCalgaryBlogs.ca
 * WordPress.com
 * EduBlogs.org
 * Blogger.com
 * and many, many more!

wikis
collaboratively edited web pages (and entire sites)


 * Wiki in the Classroom rubrick
 * Wikipedia: School and University Projects
 * use existing wikis
 * wikipedia.org
 * wiki.ucalgary.ca
 * get your own wiki
 * PBWiki
 * WetPaint

shared services
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts...


 * del.icio.us (bookmarks)
 * Flickr (photos and images)
 * YouTube (videos)

= Social Connections =

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/19/91814895_07a05f4585.jpg

Photo by antmoose

Find your network(s)

 * Technorati - use it to find your own networks for potential collaboration
 * digg.com - find and rate resources
 * web stats - follow referrals
 * StatCounter.com
 * Google Analytics
 * Facebook - find colleagues and friends from the real world
 * Twitter - follow friends and colleagues across the internets

The Power of Positive Narcissism
Link to blogs/wikis that you like, use and trust. They will likely find the link and if they like, use and trust your blog, they may reciprocate.

= Examples from UCalgary =
 * UCalgaryBlogs.ca (individual, class/course, project blogs and websites)
 * wiki.ucalgary.ca
 * UCalgary on Facebook
 * UCalgary on Flickr

= Examples from other institutions =
 * UBC Blogs and UBC wiki
 * University of Mary Washington
 * Princeton
 * Case WRU
 * Stanford
 * EDUCAUSE blogs

= Questions? =