Thursday, 18 August 2016

Weblogs as an emerging genre in higher education
A weblog, sometimes written as web log or Weblog, is a Web site that consists of a series of entries arranged in reverse chronological order, often updated on frequently with new information about particular topics said (Margaret Rouse). The information can be written by the site owner, gleaned from other Web sites or other sources, or contributed by users. Blogs serves as means of communication or a mode of expression. It allows people to interact through words. In blogs people can debate under a certain topic or theme. Or rather can engage and comment or raise their own opinions in a piece of writing. It serves as a free way of raising your own views, people write what they think at any time. Web blogs are very vital and prestigious when it comes to acquiring knowledge and improving writing skills, because the more you blog the more you encounter new information and new words. Before blogging it is very important to research under the theme or topic you want to write about, as other bloggers has the right to be polemic and critique to ones writing because that serves as a mean of commutation through the internet web so your piece writing must be liable. Recently blogs are used by many people as informational or discussion sites other than long ago. Either a group or a single person can have a blog.
According to the author (Jo Ann Oravec) weblogs emerged in the past decades as an internet application genre, providing a platform for the development of critical, individual voices within the context of internet resources. Weblog consumptions has become increasingly popular in higher education context as individuals seek was to locate a content of quality and relevance to particular topic or themes. Weblogs helps to reveal and reduce plagiarism issues. It is valuable for students because it provides information easily and it is easily accessible. Students get the opportunity to voice out their opinions and to research. Weblogs production and consumption can help students place the various emerging hypertext variations with older media in the broader context of “media ecology”. Experimentation with and discourse on weblogs can also stimulate student interest in larger notions of the social construction of information as well as presentation of self(and perhaps also make plagiarism less attractive)as students explicitly link to each other’s works in a format that fosters currency, individuality, and critical commentary. Weblogs construction involves chronological, interpersonal, and reflective components that can increase the recognition of the situatedness of hyperlinks.

Since I was introduced to blogging I gained the desire to research, search for news updates that are linked to my academics. I see blogging as an easy way to communicate and share ideas, to gain the skill of evaluating, critique and accessing. Weblogs can groom or nature a greater writer in a person as we encounter different writing strategies and new words written by different people as a matter of fact people have got their own writing format. Blogging also helped me to Stay Active or Knowledgeable in a Field or Topic, people are introducing new and different topics now and then and also blogging makes me to have fun and to be creative as many people join blogging to read the news feeds where ideas are pitched by many people or rather to have fun.


I think the effective use of blogs can be improved if the educators introduce it as a way of submitting assignments and sharing of lecture slides. This will motivate students to stay online and use their weblogs effectively and timelessly. Asking students to contribute in blogs by posting weekly for marks. Weblog is technology this is more like introducing technology in class of which is very fun. Lastly opening debate groups via blog where student can engage by uttering their opinions about a topic or a theme that is presented.

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