Emilie
Johnson
SLM
521
Course
Module
Weblogs and Chat Forums:
What are they and why use them?
Objective: Students will be able to investigate the purpose of chat forums
and weblogs.
Objective: Students will be able to evaluate existing weblogs and chat
forums found on the Internet.
Objective: Students will be able to create their own list of weblogs and chat
forums that they found to be intriguing and/or boring.
Introduction: Weblogs and chat forums have become a very popular way of
communicating and exchanging information.
This new, “hip” way of communicating has become somewhat of a norm for
teenage children as well as some adults.
Various topics are discussed on weblogs and in chat forums and many
people join and participate in ones that interest them. Weblogs and chat forums are simply a place
on the Internet to have online discussions about a particular subject or topic
and to meet people who share your same interests. Some blogs are updated daily, while others are updated
weekly. When posting on a blog, the
most recent post (comment or discussion) can be found on the top of the
page. Colleges and universities have
begun using weblogs in classroom instruction.
Many of you may be a part of a particular weblog or chat forum. We all like to talk about things that interest
us especially when we do not have to look at the people that we are conversing
with.
Reading and Discussion: There are several links to websites below. Some of these sites describe the weblog and
chat forum phenomenon, some of them are search engines for finding the best
blog for you, and some of them give detailed instructions about creating your
own weblog or chat forum. Please read
through these websites and pay close attention to the blog topics.
Read these websites first to
learn a little more about them…
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia –
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog)
Bob Stepno’s Other Journalism Weblog –
(http://radio.weblogs.com/0106327/stories/2002/12/14/bobsWeblogBackgrounder.html)
Explore these websites to
find out how to create your own weblog…
Type Pad – (http://www.typepad.com/)
Blogger – (http://www.blogger.com/start)
Finally, look at these
websites and search some of the blogs that interest you…
Globe of Blogs – (http://www.globeofblogs.com/)
Blogwise –
(http://www.blogwise.com/)
Chatmag –
(http://www.chatmag.com/)
CoreComm
– (http://home.voyager.net/web/start/chatforums)
Activity: While searching through the websites that
are linked to this module, read about weblogs and anything that you did not
already know about them. Do you think
that they are useful? Do you think that
they are strange? Go to some of the
weblogs listed on the search engines to learn what they are about and what is
being discussed. Are there any that
would interest you?
Assignment: After reading over all of the material and
obtaining a good understanding for weblogs and chat forums you must complete
the following assignments.
1.
Write one page about your opinions
of weblogs and chat forums. Think about
the following questions when writing your response. Do you like them? Are you
currently a member of one? Do you think
they will become more advanced as technology becomes more advanced?
2. Create a list of five (5) weblogs that you found interesting.
These must be ones that you would enjoy participating in. Make sure that the link to this blog is
working properly and write a short description of the blog.
3. Create a list of five (5) weblogs that you found to be boring or
worthless. These must be ones that you
would never participate in. Make sure
that the link to this blog is working properly and write a short description of
the blog.
4. Create a list of five (5) weblogs that you found to be important
and worthwhile. These weblogs should be
something that was designed to help out the community or something that
discusses a particular current affair.
Write a description of this particular blog and why you found it to be important
and noteworthy.
5. Your list of (15) blogs should be created on a word
document. You must double check to make
sure that all of the links are working so that they are easily accessible. At the end of each description, please add
the URL in parentheses as a back up.
Assessment: I will be reading over your opinions and
blog lists. I am looking for uniqueness
and creativity. Search for blogs that
you know that other students will not find.
There are millions of blogs and I want to learn about some that I have
never heard of. Of course, spelling and
grammar do count and bad links will count against you. Please read over your work before submitting
and follow the rubric below.
Submission: This module is due by 11:30pm on December
1. Please email your completed
assignment to me. It should be sent as
an attachment. The subject should read
(Lastname:Weblogs:Date). Good luck and
enjoy!
Rubric:
|
|
Accomplished |
Developing |
Unacceptable |
Opinion Page |
Student
wrote a one-page piece describing their opinions of weblogs. Thinking questions are considered and
answered. |
Student
wrote an opinion piece describing their opinions of weblogs. Some of the thinking questions were
considered and answered. |
Student
wrote a short opinion piece, if any.
The thinking questions were not considered. |
List of Blogs |
Student
listed all (15) blogs with detailed descriptions. Uniqueness and creativity is apparent. |
Students
listed (8-14) blogs with good descriptions. Some uniqueness and creativity is
apparent. |
Students
only listed (0-10) blogs with little to no descriptions. Creativity not very apparent. |
|
Grammar and Spelling |
Obvious
that student revised and reread. No
mistakes. |
Student
revised and reread, but still missed a few mistakes. |
Apparent
that student did not read over. Many
mistakes. |