Use of Blogs and WebLogs for Online Learning and Education

http://www.schoolblogs.com/
http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk/ eclipse/Resources/elblogs.htm
http://www.elearnspace.org/edutechblogs.htm
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The three links above offer a good introduction, many resources and pointers to more articles and know-how related to the use of blogs in education.

Blogs are electronic journals published online directly by their authors. This is achieved by the use of new tools and online services that allow authors to easily input and publish content online without the need for technical know-how or the the assistance of a webmaster.

Blogs are a really cool way of telling stories. And because they are digital and use the Web for publishing and distribution, they have some advantages over traditional means of storytelling.

According to the Center for Digital Storytelling (http://www.storycenter.org) "in the not distant future, sharing one's story through the multiple media of digital imagery, text, voice, sound, music, video, and animation will be the principle hobby of the world's people."

Blogs are indeed one of the first tools that can ignite knowledge contribution and sharing in many different settings.
Blogs can be utilized to create personal journals or to document the progress and development of a certain project or assignment. They offer the motivation to authors to realize something that gets to be accessed by others and allows knowledge to created and shared easily in learning groups.

 

 

The characteristics of conversations map to the conditions for genuine knowledge generation and sharing: They're unpredictable interactions among people speaking in their own voice about something they're interested in.

If you think about the aim of KM as enabling better conversations rather than restraining exchanges according predefined channels and modes, you can see how blogs can provide a liberatory and highly motivating tool for learning and educational settings.

You can read and further research about blogs in education by accessing the following selected resources:

WebLogs by Jay Cross
http://www.internettime.com/ itimegroup/weblogs.htm

Sample e-learning blogs

elearning Post
http://www.elearningpost.com/

Research on Learning and Performance
http://www.internettime.com/ itimegroup/research.htm

OL Daily
http://www.downes.ca/news/OLDaily.htm

Weblog-ed
http://www.ravenrock.com/blog/blog.html

Weblogs in Education
http://www.schoolblogs.com/stories/ storyReader$265

Four Blog-related tools:

a) Linkwatcher
http://www.linkwatcher.com/

b) Blogdex
http://blogdex.media.mit.edu/

c) Blogroots
http://www.blogroots.com/resources.blog

d) Weblogs Compendium - The Complete Guide to Weblogs
http://www.lights.com/weblogs/ tools.html