What is a Weblog?
A weblog (or 'blog') can be thought of as an online journal
that an individual can continuously update with his or her own words, ideas,
and thoughts through software that enables one to easily do so. Unlike a
standard website, weblog entries are made by typing directly into the browser
and with the click of a button are instantly published on the internet. All
basic document formatting, like spacing, bold, italics, underline, and creating
links, requires no knowledge of HTML or FTP (File Transfer Protocol), so that
anyone who can type, copy, and paste can create and maintain a weblog. However,
with a very basic knowledge of HTML, users can extend their ability to
customize the layout of their blog and even add pictures to enhance its
attractiveness. Similar to an open journal, the accumulation of writings and
other content creates both a record of learning and a resource for others.
Furthermore, a weblog is interactive, in the sense that readers can respond to
any given entry with a comment and even threaded discussions can take place
depending on the software chosen.
Even though weblogs have been in existence since the very
beginning of the world wide web itself (Winer, 2002), free, commercially
available 'blogging software of the type discussed in this article, seems to
have made its first appearance in July of 1999 (Blood, 2000). Because of the
relative quickness and ease of publishing this type of software affords, the
number of users has grown tremendously since then, and we can now observe blogs
being used for personal, educational, journalistic, and commercial purposes. In
the following section, I will introduce three possible ways that weblogs could
be put to immediate use with ESL classroom learning.
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