My English Pages

Blogs for teachers?

Some colleagues asked me to help them start a blog. They have been convinced since my last post on the advantages of using a blog in teaching. So I thought I should start a series of posts explaining what blogging means and what it entails. First let’s start with definitions of some key words.

What is a blog?

A blog is a contraction of the term “web log“. It is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with:

• regular entries of commentary,
• descriptions of events,
• or other material such as graphics or video.

Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order with the last post appearing first.

Ther term Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Types of blogs

There are various types of blogs.

• Personal
  They serve as a diary where bloggers communicate with friends, reflect on life, or works of art.
• Professional
  A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business purposes.

Blogs can also be classified by genre or by media:

• By genre:
  Political blogs, fashion blogs, travel blogs, education blogs…
• By media type:
  • A blog with videos is called vblog
  • Blogs which contain links are called linkblogs
  • Blogs comprising photos are photoblogs

The Blogosphere

The blogosphere is the collective community of all blogs. They are interconnected and socially networked, through blogrolls, comments, trackbacks or pingbacks.

Blog search engines

The most important blog search engines on the internet are:

• technorati
• bloglines
• blogscope

Communities of bloggers

These include:

• MyBlogLog
• BlogCatalog
• Blogster

Software for starting a blog

To start a blog, you need a blog software. Most of them are free. The most important platforms are:

• WordPress.org
• Blogger.com
• Edublogs

My English Pages blog uses WordPress platform. It is free and easy to use.

• If you have bought a space on a web server, you can download the WordPress software for free  and install it in your server
• or you can use wordpress.com, Blogger.com or Edublogs free platforms which offer the hosting and the software as well.

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