Blogging for Grades

The Blog Post Assignment for 417/517

Here's what I'm looking for:

•  Find a recent study, controversy, or story related to the week’s topic. For example, if you are posting in the week on hacking, you could find a recent report about a hacking incident. I’ll make some suggestions about possible issues to focus on for each week.
  
•  Describe and analyze the study, controversy, or story. Show how it relates to the ideas discussed in the course. Have a clear thesis that you state at the beginning.
  
• Write around 300-500 words (but, if you make a video or other kinds of non-text
  content, you can write much less!). There is no strict word requirement, but longer is not always better. (See tips on writing blog posts below.)
  
• Ask questions or use some other technique to get the class discussing the issues you raise in your post. Not only should you be prompting discussion, but actively moderating it--e.g., by reading and selectively responding to comments in the d2l discussion.
  
• A blog post is not the same as a formal writing assignment. Be sure to look at the links I have posted below about writing blog posts. The style of a blog post is not the same as an essay for a course. 
  
  
• Cite your sources--when possible provide links to the sources of information you use. While the style is different than a standard academic essay, the need to be careful about citing your sources is not.
  
•  Grammar, spelling, etc. count.

4 tips for writing a good blog post.

There are some unique aspects to writing a blog. It is quite different from writing a class paper (though the same standards of well-informed, clear, and grammatical writing still apply.) Here are some ideas for how to write a good blog post.

1. Get Familiar with the Blogs

In order to get familiar with blog writing you should be following a blog. Ideally it should be one with multiple posts a week—a group blog is good for that. It would also be good if it focused on something you are interested in and on issues related to digital culture. It should be a blog where people share information and opinion.

I, for instance, follow these blogs, among others:

•  Opinionator http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/
•  Jezebel http://jezebel.com/
•  Everyday Feminism http://everydayfeminism.com/

But, those are just my interests. Look around, ask friends.

Reading blogs will both give you first hand experience of digital culture and will give you exposure to how blogs are written. 

2. Read online advice about how to write blog posts 

You can just look around for yourself, or here are a couple of links to some tips I thought were useful. 

·        http://www.copyblogger.com/scannable-content/

·        http://weblogs.about.com/od/bloggingtips/tp/TipsWriteBlogPosts.htm·       

Remember, the audience here is your fellow students and myself, so it does need to have a semi-professional tone (though it need not be--indeed it should not be--formal academic prose). 

3. Make your posts engaging with links and images

• Link to other sources—news stories, opinion pieces, articles, video, audio, etc. (But, note that this material cannot be in place of your contribution—it should just add to it.)
• Include non-text based content—e.g., pictures, videos, podcasts, animations, etc.