Most of you reported that you haven't maintained a blog. Most of you reported that you are not regular readers of blogs.
That was my case, too, until last year when we decided to include blogging as a media writing assignment in Writing for Mass Communication (MMC 2100). I decided that I had better try blogging myself if I was going to be teaching blogging. I set up a Tumblr account, as it is microblog and would be a good first blog experience for me -- and then for the MMC 2100 students. I could blog from my iPhone, which I did while attending a conference at San Jose.
The blogging assignment was made about midway through the semester with each student setting up a Tumblr account and blogging for a week. Before the blogging assignment, only about 10 of the 260 students had a blog.
I'm asking each of you to share a blog that you think illustrates an effective use of blogging. The blog you share could be from a media organization (i.e., newspaper, magazine, public relations firm, etc.), faculty member or an independent blogger. We want to see examples of blogs that do a good job of showing how a blog can be used in the media or in teaching.
Here's my example -- http://islott.tumblr.com Ilana asked me to supervise her independent study this summer when she worked for a television station in her hometown. As part of the independent study, I asked her to blog about the work experience. She said that the blog encouraged her to reflect on her work experience and to write in a professional manner, as I would be reading the blog and so would others -- including her parents and work supervisors.
12 comments:
For me, reading blogs is a part of my daily routine.
One blog in particular that stands out as being top-notch is that of MLB Rumors, a blog that addresses potential trades and deals in Major League Baseball.
While the blog is not related to teaching, I want to show those individuals who do not like blogs or afraid of blogs that something as simple as MLB Rumors is one of the most visited baseball blogs in America.
Feel free to check it out: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/
Regarding teaching blogs, I am not really familiar with any aside from the one that I ran last semester. However, after a quick search, I found a blog that addresses technology in education.
Not exactly the fanciest blog, Bill Mackenty offers his readers advice on practical application of technology in the classroom.
Feel free to check out his blog at: http://www.mackenty.org/
"Romenesko" is a pretty good blog hosted by the Poynter Institute which is essentially a blog written by a journalist about journalism and the state of the media industry (primarily the newspaper business and their related web publications). It's a great resource to learn about current issues in journalism and often provides critique/commentary about recent stories that have ran in papers around the nation. Go check it out at: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45
I also like benton.org which is sort of half blog, half news story aggregator. Benton is a bit broader in scope than Romenesko as it covers current events affecting all forms of media.
Both Benton and Romenesko are good sites for students and teachers to stay current on what is happening in the industry.
Since I seem to be our resident blogging novice I decided to look for a blog about blogging. (If you can dream it, it's on the internet, right?)
I found a great one about using blogs as teaching tools in higher education. There are all sorts of blogging resources on the site, and the discussion brings up some pretty good questions such as how to avoid FERPA conflicts with student posts.
http://www.higheredblogcon.com/index.php/blogs-as-personal-learning-environments/
One of my former colleagues also pointed out that I've actually been reading a blog for years, although oddly ennought I never thought of it as a "blog." It's on the Poynter Institute's website, called "Al's Morning Meeting." I checked it almost daily for story ideas when I was reporting, and then used it again as a source for discussion topics for my journalism students.
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2
I found a teaching blog that looks interesting. I haven't dug too deep, but the first half dozen posts I read are interesting.
http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/
The blog talks about technology and teaching. The topics aren't strictly classroom related, but they talk about learning (anywhere students are doing it). The most recent post is about how video-game-playing young men are using scientific method to gather information and create a database on how to beat the "bosses" in their video game. So far, so interesting.
The blogger has been an educator for 30 years, has written several books (one on instructional technology) and runs a site called Landmarks for Schools which has teaching tools online.
Since I am probably more of a blogging novice than Wendy, I did a search for "media blog" and found several websites, but really wasn't sure if some of them qualified as blogs in the way I understand them, such as www.gawker.com. One I did find is published by Cathy Kirkman, a lawyer in California who specializes in media law and paricularly new media. Her blog can be found at:
http://www.svmedialaw.com/
I don't follow many blogs specifically but I do read some quite often for insight into a lot of subjects. I know that we've already had a couple of "technology in education" blogs but I'd like to offer one more. This blog focuses on new media in the classroom. This includes podcasts, blogging, virtual worlds, etc. This blog was actually a virtual event that is no longer going on, but the information could still prove useful. Perhaps the fact that the "event" of learning about the uses of new media in the classroom is inspiration for teaching!
Here's the link:
http://www.higheredblogcon.com/
I've been digging around and stumbled on The Journalism Iconoclast. I find several of his entries interesting, but I was particularly drawn to one on the first page about the future of journalism education.
http://patthorntonfiles.com/blog/
I'm also enjoying this blog for a variety of reasons... not just because it's called "Ethical Martini."
http://ethicalmartini.wordpress.com/
I really like Prof. McAdam's blog about teaching online journalism. Despite this not being my area, I have found very interesting and useful resources.
Here is the link:
http://mindymcadams.com/tojou/
From a PR perspective, Micropersuasion, which is an industry blog, is very good for finding ways to include real-world examples in your teaching.
Here is the link:http://www.micropersuasion.com/
When I thought of a blog that I would like to share, I immediately thought of a blog that was covered a few nights ago on the Daily Show. Apparently, the creator of the blog, Adam Brinkley, set up the Web site long before Sarah Palin was chosen to be McCain's running mate. The site, "Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President", at http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/, was begun on February 26, 2007. Brinkley, in his first post, "Why Sarah Palin?" describes as the reason for his blog that, because he had been "less than thrilled" with those who had been named as potential vice presidential nominees, he "decided to see if there was anyone better suited for the job that I hadn't been hearing about."
After a month's worth of research, he "discovered" Sarah Palin and started the blog about her from his bedroom in his mother's house. Today, it is the second hit that comes up on Google with the search term "Sarah Palin blog." I do not know what the popularity or rank of the blog was before the show, so I do not know if the publicity it received on the Daily Show prompted its significant search engine ranking, but somehow, it was interesting enough to be picked up and be featured on the popular political satire show in the first place.
I think this is significant because of it shows an effective use of blogging--that a blog of an independent blogger can "make a difference and is an example of citizen journalism at its best. It is a compilation of posts from contributing writers and includes stories from the news media that were written about Sarah Palin. It provides others with the inspiration to know that there ideas can be heard.
What I usually pay attention is how professors incorporate social media in their teachings, especially for public relations courses. One of them I often visit is - Social Media for PR Class.
==> This is the course blog which is kept by Corinne Weisgerber, for an upper-level class on Social Media and Public Relations taught at St. Edward's University. Here, you will find emerging social media technologies and study their application in contemporary PR practice.
Here’s the link: http://socialmediaprclass.blogspot.com/
Another one is http://www.teachingpr.org/ which is kept by Dr. Karen Russell at the
University of Georgia.
Enjoy!!
I read blogs every day that involve two of my most passionate interests - sports and politics.
This blog, Hockey Buzz (http://www.hockeybuzz.com/), is one of the better sports blogs I read.
Aside from the latest news and rumors around the National Hockey League, Hockey Buzz gives its readers more. There are videos and podcats throughout the NHL season and a number of notable writers. Hockey Buzz hires prominent hockey writers, former players and personalities around the country to post daily. Additionally, each team has a blogger designated to each team.
I don't read many blogs, but one I keep up with is Rob Curley's: http://robcurley.com/.
Rob and I worked together in Naples and I interned with his team at washingtonpost.com. He has been in the forefront of the convergence media move, although he has made many mistakes.
Sadly, his blog is usually very casual. Usually it consists of tirades about the weather in Nevada. But sometimes there is a gem about online newspaper philosophy.
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