Identifying Blogs Paper Scenario: You have been tasked with compiling five blogs that professional development trainers or educators at any level would find valuable and relevant.

 

Search the Internet for blogs that would be relevant to the group you identified. One way to search for blogs is by using Google™ blogs. Type in keywords pertinent to the audience on which you will focus. For example, you may type in professional development for teachers or IT training for managers. You may be as broad or as specific as you would like.

 

Describe what a blog is, how it is used, its advantages and disadvantages, and how it may be applied as a training tool for knowledge creation and enhancement.

Discuss the audience of educators you defined and the importance of blogs and blog content to this group. Incorporate a paragraph for each of the five blogs you identified that addresses the following:

Brief description of each blog, including frequency of posts and timeliness

Summary of the type of content provided, including one to two examples of topics and how these are relevant to your audience

Level of engagement from audience members: Does the blog invite comments? What types of content are blog followers contributing? Are they asking questions? Are they adding to or advancing the dialogue?

Assessment of credibility and reliability of the blog: What are some indicators that this blog is reputable?

Reputation: How does a blog's content affect the blogger's online reputation? How reader's comments on a blog affect its online reputation?

 

Conclude with best practices for those new to blogs; for example, how they might get started, familiarising themselves with blogs, selecting blogs to follow, and so forth.