3-2-1

This presentation will explore three tools of online communication and conversation: blogs, podcasts and wikis. I want to share three items about each tool, suggest two ways to get started with the tool, and make one argument for why you should be prepared to support the university community in using these tools.

Blogs

Weblogs, or blogs, are a type of web page. They are frequently updated pages with the postings arranged reverse chronologically (newest at top). Blogs use lots of links to outside sites, pages and search engines. Usually written by one person, blogs often include a way for readers to leave their own comments. This is an example of a blog.

Read the blogging101 presentation for an overview of how weblogs developed. Here's what you'll learn there:

  1. The first weblogs were What's New pages in the early days of the Internet, pointing to any new content available online.
  2. The next weblogs filtered the growing World Wide Web, recommending the most interesting and useful content available online.
  3. The next weblogs were online diaries or journals of individual writers, about the events, highlights and readings from their lives.

Weblogs today are a mix of new content, recommended links and personal or organizational information. They can be specialized (e.g. politics, sleep disorders, babies or tsunami relief efforts), or about anything and everything a person encounters in his/her life.

Hmm. 3 more items.

  1. Look at a sample blog entry for the title, post, timestamp, permalink, links and scannable text.
  2. Read the About page or introduction post – a word about evaluating information online
  3. Watch for comments, linklogs and blogrolls. These are ways to build community, reputation and social capital.

How to get started:

  1. Create a free, hosted blog at Wordpress.com — it takes all of three minutes. If you have a webhost account, install Wordpress, Textpattern or other free blogging CMS.
  2. Once you've got your blog started, it's easy to write and publish a post. Here's what it looks like:

 

An argument for support:

  1. Be encouraging. If someone’s asking about blogging, they have something to express or share. Suggest the free, community-supported Wordpress.com as a starting point. And tell them about BlogTogether, our group of bloggers in the Triangle who regularly meet up and provide tutoring sessions and social events.

Subscribing to newsfeeds
Most weblogs and many news organizations automatically publish a newsfeed (known as RSS, RDF, Atom or XML, and often shown with an orange button). A newsfeed is the same content as the weblog but it can be read in many email clients or newsreader programs, such as Google Reader and Bloglines. Use a newsreader to efficiently track multiple blogs and news sites. The orange RSS button on most weblog home pages is the newsfeed. Right-click and save the link to subscribe to the newsfeed in your newsreader.

 

Podcasts

Some people express themselves with written words, while others express themselves verbally or through music. A podcast (like this one) is the verbal form of blogging, and are really just audio files embedded in a weblog newsfeed. And a vlog (like this one) is the video version. By the way, you do not need an iPod to listen to a podcast — you can listen on your computer or many other digital music players.

  1. A podcast at its simplest can be a regular recording of a person speaking about a topic.
  2. A more complicated podcast can incorporate music clips, sound editing and recorded or live interviews and discussions between two or more people.
  3. Most good podcasts (like blogs) are focused on one topic or theme.

How to get started

  1. Use the free service at Odeo.com to subscribe, download and listen to podcasts.
  2. Read the Audio Activism tutorial on podcasting to learn about the software, recording hardware and important warnings (copyright!). Mac users can jump right in with GarageBand. Or use the Odeo Studio to record or upload audio. And if you're already using Wordpress (installed on a server) for your blog, you can also use it for podcasting.

An argument for support:

  1. Professors across the country make their lectures and lab notes available as podcasts, and you may be asked by faculty in your department for help in getting started. Again, please encourage them, and point them to the links above. And stay tuned for PodcasterCon 2007.

Wikis

A wiki is a collaborative web page with simple online editing tools for building content. If you refer to the online encyclopeida Wikipedia, then you're using a wiki. Another good example of a wiki is Flu Wiki, in which people around the world are preparing for a flu pandemic by building a public resource of knowledge.

  1. The term wiki comes from a Hawaiian word meaning 'quick'. Wiki software was developed to give people a quick way to collaborate on a document. Read a full history of the development here at Wikipedia.
  2. A wiki keeps track of all changes to the pages, and it's easy for an administrator to revert back to an older version of a page.
  3. A wiki is a great tool to plan a conference or community-driven event. BarCampRDU used a wiki to plan a technology unconference, and we're using a wiki to plan the North Carolina Science Blogging Conference.

How to get started:

  1. There are hundreds of wiki programs to choose from. Find a list of wikis here, and try them by clicking into the sandbox. Once you find your flavor, its usually easy to install on your server.
  2. But a better way to start is to create a free wiki at pbwiki.com, StikiPad.com or wiki.com. (Writeboard is another good tool, and Google Docs and Zoho offer collaborative word processing.)

A word about support:

  1. Encourage the faculty, staff and students in your department to use wikis for classes, conferences and other events, and help them see how the wiki tool can facilitate collaboration and group creativity.