The Power of Weblogs 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 a of Weblog?

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

„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

„The Wisdom of Crowds“ versus
„The cult of the amateur“?

e-Learning 2.0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leighblackall/64953825/

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

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/

What is the success story
of weblogs? Why should I use a weblog for my daily- learning processes?

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?

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 as well as students not use it?“ Marc Scheloske, 2008 http://flickr.com/photos/wilhei/109404349

How can students of use
Weblogs in a formal educational institution?

bookmark plugin + tugll it
button einfügen

Ranking Plugin bases on „wisdom
of the crowds“ theory

User rate accuracy factor User
content rate factor User state

Further extensions • View Plugin
• Widgets Extension • Search Plugin

The Weblog as step towards
Personal Information Environment http://flickr.com/photos/thomcochrane/416206133/

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