How Blogs & Wikis Help in Writing ?

1. How Blogs & Wikis Help in Writing ? Prepared by, Chistopher Chong Wei Jin Wong SiewTzen Irene Chang Hui Chung Ng Ru Yi

2. A blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. • Quotation “ writing without writing” • Weblogs: A History And Perspective Definition of Blog

3. Provide commentary or news on a particular subject • Personal online diaries • Share one’s life with a wider community The Usage of A Blog

4. Everybody can start up a blog but not everybody can write a blog that fulfill the reader requirement. • To write a blog that can attract readers or audience, you will have to fulfill requirements below: a) Create a blog homepage b) Make a page about yourself outstanding c) Categories in the blog d) List of links e) Sidebar item f) Blog footer Blogshttp://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/tp/WritingBlogPeopleRead.htm

5. You’ll be able to post new information quickly and get it to your customers & clients just as fast like promoting your items, newest product etc. • Can be an excellent way of sharing within an organization • Can be a positive way of getting feedback, and keeping your finger on the pulse, as readers react to certain pieces, suggest story ideas etc. • Ability to vent your feelings, by simply typing in some text and letting the whole world be able to read what is going on in your head. Effects of Weblogs (Positive)

6. Most blogwriters are unable to write down their ideas in a clear and compelling manner, often filling it with mundane and uninteresting tidbits. • Blogs are easy to start and hard to maintain. A blog writer needs to be committed to regularly posting on his blog instead of doing it according to her moods. • Far from blogs being a cheap strategy, they are a very expensive one, consuming a lot of time for writers to regularly update them. Effects of Weblogs (Negative)

7. One of the most popular blogs in the world, Perez Hilton.com

8. What are they? • According to Wikipedia, Wiki software is a type of collaborative software that runs a Wiki system. This typically allows web pages to be created and edited using a common web browser. It is usually implemented as an application server that runs on one or more web servers. • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_(software) • http://www.ukcle.ac.uk/resources/ict/wikis.html Definition of Wikis

9. A wiki is an application that allows users to draft and redraft each other’s text online, and to share that text among a community of readers, either privately or publicly. • Known as ‘social software’ . • A blog focus on a set of entries written in chronological order like a journal; a wiki is a powerful collaborative drafting tool that can enable people to work on projects as vast as an online encyclopedia / Wikipedia or as small as a to do list for a camping trip.

10. Wiki is an ideal tool, where you think you might want students to construct a knowledge base, or to collaborate with each other over the Web in discussing your subject/ module. • Wikis can be used for formative feedback, where tutors can give feedback on work in draft form. It can also be used for summative assessment, where the final product is submitted for high-stakes assessment.

11. Can be used in conjunction with blogs and RSS (Really Simple Syndication). • can embed video in a wiki, as well as graphics and diagrams. • can also be used as part of an e-portfolio, where working drafts can be made public to viewers on the portfolio, or kept private, as appropriate. • can be used for staff research purposes. • setting up the software for users (depending on the type of wiki you use), wikis are quite intuitive to use.

12. Three types: • Socialtext • MediaWiki • Instiki Educational tools, wikis have the potential to: • create networks of meaning • enable distributed learning across the Internet • facilitate collaborative learning • embody e-learning as understanding and conversation, as just-in-time learning, and assessment of situated learning.

13. Users can draft and redraft each others’ texts, and teachers will have a record of that activity. • Collaborative projects are easy to participate in, with an online tool that holds a central version of the project. • Teaching materials can be hosted on a wiki and revised easily. • Teams of students can work on a document, as well as individuals. • Projects can be as small as several paragraphs or as large as a book – even one as large as an encyclopedia. • Student- centred drafting area. • Staff can use tools to comment on student work. Why Choose Wiki??

14. Require users to learn wiki syntax so that they can maximize the usage of the formatting capabilities of the wiki. Adding plain text to a page is simple, but formatting headings, lists or tables requires the use of a system of special punctuation. • Very large wiki projects can become the battleground of editing wars between writers who have different views. This can make a particular wiki page seem repetitive and full of bombastic edits. • The collaborative nature of a wiki means the team members, as a whole, must be committed to the project in order to take advantage of the many features of wiki programs. One or two people who are active, while the rest become sleeping members, can turn the wiki into a pet project that only seems useful to that one or two people, but not the rest of the team or the wider community. The Effects of Wikis in Writing

15. A page from the wiki ‘Halopedia’

16. These advantages allow wikis to fulfill the original purpose with which they were created for: A simple, easily understood and used community tool that can provide information to web surfers who can then edit the information if they have more to contribute. In short, an online community, by the people, for the people. However, the disadvantages are also present, and the contributing people must be wary of them so they do not get plagued by these pitfalls further down the project. Summary …

17. That’s the end of the presentation. Thank you for watching and paying attention ….