Citation: Reid, Alex. “Why Blog? Searching for writing on the web.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing 2 (2011): 302-36.
Author: JBR
Class Info/Tags: FYC, Digital Rhetoric, Hybrid Course
Abstract/Summary: An open-access, student facing text that discusses the blogging genre, the purpose of blogging, and provides examples of blogs that students might be familiar with.
Context of Use: We use this article to orient ourselves to the blogging genre before students start on their blog project that extends through the course. Typically, I will ask students to read this and then develop a list of genre conventions for blogging in a discussion board, but this also works as an in-person class discussion. We use the lists they create to develop a standard for their blogs.
Instructor Reflection
- What do you like about this text? This is an accessible text for students to read to begin to understand blogs. They don’t often experience difficulty in understanding the content, and it tends to be helpful in orienting them to the blog project as most students come in with cursory understandings of blogging.
- What is difficult about this? However, this text is already dated, especially in regard to the examples it offers of other blogs. This requires a little more scaffolding in using the text and offers an opportunity for students to consider updated examples.
