TECH2002 Lab Week One: Learning Programme 1

We will be using two online tools for reading and writing on the module website on Blackboard – a module blog and wiki. Everyone on the module will have access to these resources.

You may want to use similar tools of your own for the coursework assignments. There are many such resources available as externally hosted services (such as this one). If you are going to run your own external blog, which external service should you use?

This week’s computer lab focuses on blogs and blogging.

1. What is a blog?

Watch the Common Craft video on blogs.


Read pages 16-18 of Mayfield’s e-book ‘What is social media?’ (2008) and follow the hypertext links to examples as you go through the pages.

2. Module blog task
You can write entries or comment on entries by other members of the module at any time. If you have something interesting and relevant to say about digital technology, then blog about it in the module blog. Write your mind!

However, this week I am setting a specific task to get you started. This task should be completed before next week’s computer lab.

Write an entry about the websites that you use on a regular basis. How do you use them? Why do you use them?

The reason for doing this is that it is a good place to start thinking about digital technology and online media. You know something about your own experience, so your task is to record that factual information, and to try to explain and organize that information into something which is interesting to read.

Remember that blogs are usually written informally in a ‘personal’ and ‘conversational’ style. Also try to use the power of blogging such as embedded media such as images and video, and hypertext links.

3. Other media alternatives to blogs
What are the alternatives to blogs that are based mainly around written entries?

Micro-blogging
According to Mayfield (2008) micro-blogging refers to the combination of blogging with Instant messaging and social network tools (see page 30). The most well known example is Twitter (see Mayfield p.27).

Vlogging

Moblogging

What about audio blogs? There is podcasting, and MP3 blogs, but what about blogging based around audio files?


Bibliography
Mayfield, A. (2008) What is social media? [WWW] Available at
http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads/eBooks/What_is_Social_Media_iCrossing_ebook.pdf (Accessed 24 September 2008).