Ideas for How to Use Blogging

Here’s some ideas from our workshop on how the participants can use blogging in their work:

• Use it in the classroom to make argument instead of a regular essay; and other students can comment on each other
• new medium for posting timely articles for the student newspaper
• getting feedback on essay for feedback before handing it in
• questioning local new media article validity
• more youth voice in the media
• Live Journal community to post announcements and community events (it’s informal now)
• call out to females at my school to find out why they’re always fighting

Folks seemed to have a lot of questions about how blogs get traffic. We talked about blogrolls/liniking, tagging, and searching. Check out Technorati.com to find out more about tagging and try Google’s Blog Search at http://blogsearch.google.com/.

Blogging Workshop at Media Matters

Blogging Workshop at Media Matters: Writing Conference For High School Teachers & Teens
11/1/06
Session Outline & Links
Basics:

• Are you already blogging? How is MySpace/LiveJournal different than citizen journalism?
• What is citizen journalism? How is it different than professional journalism? (see notes from Danielle’s presentation last spring to Tactical Media Group at UMB or to WAM! conference <http://www.cpcs.umb.edu/vista/blog/danielle_martin/archives/001252.html > and CCTV’s documentary at http://blip.tv/file/60931 and video from Center for Social Media <http://www.martinlucas.net/images/M2M(15fps)320.mov >)
• What is a blog? and blog terms (skip this if too elemental for crowd)
• Copyright and credibility on blogs and Personal Info / Internet Safety on blogs for youth: see http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/faq-students.php

Examples of power of citizen journalism using blogs:

1. Foley Scandal (Danielle)
   1. Story on NPR on how it all started on the internet
2. ACME Boston – Protest at Statehouse (Colin)
   1. protest organized by ACME Boston
   2. no coverage by mainstream media
   3. covered by Steve Garfield and Andy Carvin’s video blogs
   4. portion of videoblog appeared on PBS
   5. shows how free tools like videoblogging have potentional to reach larger audience
3. Dean Campaign
4. Pete Steadman project with local papers in Boston Area
5. Dan Gilmor spiel (see Colin’s blog at http://colinrhinesmith.com/2006/04/19/citizen-media-series-part-iii-engaging-with-the-news/)
6. Global Voices Online – non-profit global citizens’ media project, sponsored by and launched from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at the Harvard Law School; guide to the most interesting conversations, information, and ideas appearing around the world on various forms of participatory media such as blogs, podcasts, photo sharing sites, and videoblogs.

Youth Examples of Blogging:

1. Seventh grade English in Ontario Novel Discussions (see Andy Carvin’s blog “Using Blogs as a Novel Approach to Engage Students ” on PBS’ Learning.now)
2. Other Recommendation from Andy Carvin: takingitglobal.org
3. YouthNoise – social networking tool (formerly of Save the Children network) – for history see http://www.youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=2350