Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Blogucation

ANATOMY OF A BLOG
  • Header
  • footer
  • body
  • sidebar
  • ads

BLOG TYPES
  • personal journals,
  • expert blogs: either for professional use or personal hobbying
  • social commentary blogs,
  • comedic blogs,
  • portfolio blogs,
  • then there are blogs in the classroom     

    BLOG HISTORY
    • Originally it was a list of new sites as they were added. 1992
    • ...then an online journal with daily entries 96
    • Free blog service launched 99
    • Now: a publicly available online listing of either personal, internet or social commentary.


    CLASSROOM BLOGS
    • Involves curious parents
    • Grandma can look at her grandson's artwork
    • Helps and inspires other art Educators
    • Classwork is shown in group project which students can share links to and helps to strengthen classroom community

    STUDENT BLOGS
    • Students take ownership of their blog and take pride in their work being shown
    • An artist identity is possible through their blog
    • Students can feel like their work isn't just shoved in a folder but is visible to the world

    WIDGETS & PLUGINS
    • widgets & plugins are add-ons to your blog that add specific functions. Some are functional, some are stupid.
    • Search for widgets or Plugins
    • links to video tutorials for plugin & widget use are at the end of this post

    BASIC BLOG TIPS
    "follow" a blog. WORDPRESS BLOGSPOT
    Following allows you to receive updates when a blog changes and helps you keep track of all the stuff you’re trying to keep up with.

    post an image WORDPRESS  BLOGSPOT
    less words, more images.

    tag/keyword WORDPRESS BLOGSPOT
    when you post a blog you can add keywords so visitors can search your blog posting based on content.


    SAMPLE LESSON
    Assign a word to word-web off of.
    Instruct each student to find the person on their left's blog, choose a word from their classmate's word web and find three images which they like that they associate with the initial word and ones taken from the word web.

    GOALS
    Students are challenged to look at visual interpretation from a different viewpoint and challenge their own association to language.



    EXAMPLES
    http://apexhsart.blogspot.com/
    Highschool artists use blogs to share their digital artwork.

    http://artmakeskidssmart.blogspot.com/
    This elementary teacher is posting some great lesson plan ideas as well as finished products of his students.

    http://artjunction.org/blog/
    An art educator who is fully embracing technological progress and using it or trying to use it in the classroom. His blog is more of a traditional blog diary with some external links.

    http://coconyu.blogspot.com/
    Truly a collaborative group, posts news and events on their blog. It may help to utilize the "tags" blog roll on the right to find artwork.

    http://smarthistory.org/about-smarthistory.html
    SmartHistory.org began as a blog with audio supplements to the MOMA. It grew to include audio and video supplemental material for an art history survey course. Now they are all about web 2.0, collaboration & free content.

    http://theartclassroom.wordpress.com/
    An almost daily updated blog with images of student work and inclass project progress.
    A great example of plenty of images & videos with less to read.


    CLASSROOM IDEAS

    Telephone scavenger hunt.
    One person finds art online, posts the image of it on their blog, describe it & critique it. The next person finds an image of artwork to compliment or contrast the previous one. A short description and critique of each art piece.

    Styling research
    Students are required to find an artist with a clear style and post images of their artwork. Each student will conduct their own online research on how the process and how to do it. Then students are asked to emulate the artists style and post progress of their works on their blog.
    Blog posts of difficulties and failures in the process are encouraged.

    Our Neighborhood
    An art class teams up with a school across the country or ocean or street. They share artwork of their environment & neighborhood. Students can broaden their understanding of cultures through artwork produced by students their age rather than reading a textbook.

    DISCUSSION
    What regulations would you implement when starting a classroom blog community?
    What discussions would you have with your students in order to encourage trust and vulnerability? 


    USEFUL LINKS
    http://www.ehow.com/how_2318008_use-blog-college-classroom.html
    some pretty straightforward points about using blogs in a college environment.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEWPnHY8D3E
    a feature film length video on how to blog. Do not watch while drowsy.

    youtube demo for wordpress plugins

    "wordpress for women" video demo

    http://edubloggerworld.ning.com/
    http://flatclassrooms.ning.com/

    FOLLOW BLOG
    http://www.google.com/friendconnect

    TEMPLATES, PLUGINS
    bloggerplugins.org

    Journal of American Studies, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Dec., 2004), pp. 457-471
    Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Association for American Studies
    Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27557549

    New-Media Art Education and Its Discontents
    Trebor Scholz
    Art Journal, Vol. 64, No. 1 (Spring, 2005), pp. 95-108
    Published by: College Art Association
    Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20068369


    THe short history of blogs:
    http://nymag.com/news/media/15971/

    Popular use of the term Weblog as we know it today cam from Jorn Barger of the weblog Robot Wisdom (robotwisdom.com) in December 1997

    http://www.blogherald.com/2005/03/06/a-short-history-of-blogging/
     

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