What is blog?
The term blog is an abbreviation of the words web log, a term used to describe web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. A blog is a website where you can make entries like you do in a journal or diary. The entries are displayed in a reverse chronological order (most recent first).

In simpler terms, a blog is a web site, where we write entries on an regular basis. Visitors to these blogs can read the articles and can post their comments regarding the blog.

Blogs contain entries on various subjects such as education, business, food or entertainment. Few blogs serve as personal online diaries

What is blogging?

Creating, maintaining and adding articles to a blog is called blogging. Articles on a blog are called "blog posts," "posts" or "entries". A person who posts these entries is called a blogger. Blogs can be written by an individual or a group of contributors.

History of blogs

The concept of blogs and blogging evolved from online diaries, in which people kept a running account of their personal lives. Early web articles were known as weblogs and were simply manually updated components of common websites.

The evolution of tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of web articles posted in reverse chronological order made the blogging process feasible to a much larger, less technical, population. Blogging gained popularity after 1999.

Types of Blog

There are various types of blogs

By media type

• Vlog - Blog comprising videos is called a vlog
• Linklog - Blog comprising links is called a linklog
• Sketchlog – Blog containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog
• Photolog – Blog comprising of photos is called a photoblog.

By Subject type

Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, travel blogs, fashion blogs, classical music blogs, legal blogs etc.

Benefits of blogging in Education

Teachers and students can use blogging in their teaching learning process.

Blogs can be used by students as a journal log, in which they can put in the things they have learned. This blog can help the teacher to understand and assess the learning process of the students. Teachers can put their project online specifying the activities that students are required to do and links to Internet resources.

How to go about Blogging

There are several web sites available on the World Wide Web for users for blogging. Few examples of blog sites are “Blogger.com”, “Blog.com”, “Fropper.com” etc.

In order to start blogging you need to sign up with the blog web sites. The signing process is similar to the process of creating an email account.

STEPS FOR NEW USER

Step 1:

• Open Internet Explorer.
• Type www.blogger.com on the address bar.
• Press Enter on your keyboard or click Go next to the address bar.
• You will be directed to the Blogger Home Page (figure below).
• Click on the bright orange arrow “Create Your Blog Now”.

• Type your user name.
• Type your password. You will be asked to retype your password again.
• Type the name you want to be displayed on your blog posts.
• Type your current email address.
• Click on the square box under Acceptance of Terms.
• Click Continue.

Step 2:

• Type a title for your blog. Your blog's title will appear on your published blog and in your profile. The title for your blog is shown at the top of every page. This field can be edited later.
• Type a name for your blog address (URL) that you and others can link to your blog. Your blog address (URL) is your identity on the web. You and others will use your blog address to read and link to your blog.
• Verify your registration by typing the code given.
• Click Continue.

Step 3:

• Select the template of your choice and click Continue. You can always change the way your blog looks once your blog is set up.

• Your blog is now created.
• Click on Start Posting.

• You will land on the Posting page of your blog.

Step 4:

• Under the Posting tab, you can compose your entries in the Create section. You can change the font style, font size, font colour.
• Click Publish Post once you have completed typing your entry.
• You will see the following message

• You can add more entries by clicking on Create.
• Under the Settings tab, you can edit your profile, your blog address, invite others to view your blog or add them as members to your blog.

• To invite people to join, go to the Settings tab and click on Members.

• Click Add Team Member(s).

• Type the email addresses of the people you're inviting to the blog. They will receive a confirmation email.
• Click Save Settings. You'll receive an email when the new team member has joined the blog.
• Click on View Blog to see your very own blog site.

• Whether you are viewing your blog site or others, you can add a comments to the posts by clicking under the Comments section (with the pencil icon) below the entry.

STEPS FOR EXISTING USER

Step 1:

• Open Internet Explorer.
• Type www.blogger.com on the address bar.
• Press Enter on your keyboard or click Go next to the address bar.
• You will be directed to the Blogger Home Page (figure below).

• Type your username and password
• You will see your Dashboard page. Your dashboard is an area where all options for handling a blog are given. You can choose any option from the dash board.
• From your Dashboard you will have editorial access to all your blogs( you can create multiple blogs under your name) and your profile as well as Blogger News, Recently Updated Blogs, and Blogs of Note.

• While navigating around Blogger if you are not on the Dashboard page, you will find a blue button in the top right side corner of the page Back to Dashboard.
• Click on New Post to compose new entries.

• Follow the same procedures as mentioned under Step 4.
• Do not forget to Sign Out when you leave your blog site.