Blogging

Blog(n): a web page that is made up of information about a particular subject, in which the newest information is always at the top of the page. (Longman dictionary of contemporary english)

"Blog" is an abbreviation for "Web log", which can be manipulated into "We blog", hence the term. Indeed, according to the official definition above, a blog is a log on the web about a subject in chronological order. While it may be different from what you think of a blog, this is the "official" meaning.

Most people nowadays define blogs as a journal of sorts, a log to hold any interesting or exceptional events that happen to them in their everyday life. However, I do not think that all blogs are in this way, there are tech blogs, which contain the latest information about gadgets; food blogs, which tell people what food is best, and more. Thus, the common definition of "blog" is, in my opinion, better used to define "personal blog".

As you know, I'm blogging for ACE points as an assignment by our LA teacher. One way that this is a good ACE assignment is that the teacher can assess the student's writing abilities. It also gives teachers and other students a window into the life of the student.

There is a disadvantage to using a blog to evaluate a student's writing ability. Generally, peoeple would post whatever they like in their blogs. However, with evaluation, the student would have to post postings that "show reflection", "have creative topics" and so on. The student would lose his own unique style of writing and in the end, his posts would be nothing different from essays. While this may show "adequate reflection", "good choice of topic" and "excellent use of language", these are not what I think are the qualities of a good blog. In fact, I don't think blogs should or can be evaluated at all. Evaluation would probably turn the blog posts into essays, and let's face it, "a collection of essays" does not define "blog" for me. "Portfolio", maybe, but not "blog".