IS3000 Weblog Writing Assignment

Task

Your task is the creation of an on-going weekly weblog in Xanga which documents your learning concerning the topics discussed in IS3000. Your weblog should be written so as to document both course content and your learning experience (and maybe other matters as you choose, but not too much off-topic).

References should be made to the following items.

• In-class readings (with references).
• Weblogs of other students in the class (use URIs).
• External readings or interesting websites (use URIs).

Your weblog would normally extend to about 1 page per week. Note that you need to write it on a weekly basis. Every week, the progress of your weblog will be evaluated by the instructors.

Weblog completion

Log entries are due by Tuesday (23:59 hours) of every week. E.g., Weblog entries for Week 2 are due on Tuesday in Week 3. There will be no weblog entry required for Week 13 or for Week 4 (no class — public holiday).

Writing good weblogs

Study how other people on the Web write weblogs to guide your own writing. To improve the look, you can use HTML, but it is not required. You can also modify the template, but it is also not required. Consider also to submit your weblog to a search engine (recommended). Do this early, and document it in your weblog.

Do not …

• Copy weblog entries from classmates. Hyperlink instead.
• Copy content from the Internet into your weblog. Hyperlink instead.
• Try to write a weblog with software other than Xanga. It is inefficient for us, as we cannot connect the entire group together.

Do …

• Read extra materials and tell your classmates about them.
• Incorporate many hyperlinks.
• Read up on blogging, for instance http://website101.com/RSS-Blogs-Blogging/blog-writing-tips.html or http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/12/30/tens-tips-for-writing-a-blog-post/
• Connect your weblog to the course wiki (add a link to your Xanga blog into your globalteams.wetpaint.com wiki page).
• Read up on making money with blogs, e.g., http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/05/how-to-make-money-from-your-blog/