Weblogs, more than just a toy?
or
Should I keep an e-Portfolio
for my PhD study?
Mandy Schiefner, Martin Ebner

http://www.martinebner.at
http://lifestream.fm/mebner
http://mebner.jaiku.com
http://elearningblog.tugraz.at
http://twitter.com/mebner
http://tugll.tugraz.at
LaBomba Aida - Second Life

Technology enhanced Learning
http://flickr.com/photos/powerbooktrance/289992273//

uLearning
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sovietuk/141381675

„From a sample size of around 2 million US
people, US Web stats company Compete
concludes that social networking sites are
quickly approaching the traffic level of the
big portals like Google and Yahoo“
MacManus, 2006

What is the success story of weblogs?
Why should I use a weblog for my PhD work?

Learning approaches
• - Self determined learning
• - Informal learning

Doctoral students
• - ... should have the ability to design,
• implement and adopt a research
• process
• - ... should understand their subject
• and have the associate skills
• - ... should contribute something new
• to the subject of their thesis
How can collected material be structured and
saved that it can be retrieved years later?

„Blogs are both individualistic and
collaborative. Blogs promote self-
expression, a place where the author can
develop highly personalized content.“
Huffaker, 2005

A Weblog is ...
• - a frequently updated
• - website
• - consisting of data entries
• - arranged in reverse chronological
order

Different Webloghoster or -
systems

Usability and
Mobility
http://flickr.com/photos/ben30/160708916/

From a technical
view ok, but ...
... why should
I blog?
http://flickr.com/photos/jankroemer/2392009819/

„concept of decentralization, per-user
publication“
Karger & Quan, 2005
„user centred information/content“
Schiefner & Ebner, 2008
„a useful information-gathering tool for
practitioners“
Porter et al., 2007
„blogs from experts or researchers are of high
interest and relevance“
Heise, 2007
„keeping oneself or anyone else tracked and
checking running progress“
Luca & McLoughlin, 2005
„weblogs help bloggers to become a part of a
wide communication network “
Peschke & Lübecke, 2005

Blogging Theory
- Individuality
- Collectivity
- Community
http://flickr.com/photos/louveciennes/2155673014/

Collecting
Sharing
Reflecting
http://flickr.com/photos/alysser/2011022884/

Weblogs have the potential ...
• - ... to foster self-determined learning
• - ... to foster informal learning
• - ... to support digital archives
• - ... to enlarge communities
• - ... to be part of the daily life

„The blogosphere represents a communication-
and cooperation network. So why should
scientific staff not use it?“
Marc Scheloske, 2008
http://flickr.com/photos/wilhei/109404349

SOCIAL LEARNING
Computer and Information Services
Graz University of Technology
Graz University of Technology
Martin Ebner
http://elearning.tugraz.at
http://elearningblog.tugraz.at