Intro to Blogs
What better way to convince you that you should have a blog than to have this information posted on it’s very own blog! Please, read over this information and you’ll discover why it would be to your advantage to get your own!
What is a blog?
The word “blog” is actually an abridgement of the phrase “web log.” Simply defined, blogs are usually maintained by individuals who post regular entries of commentary, announcements, descriptions of events, or other content, such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. Blogs have become very popular in the last few years. Estimations show that there are around 100 million blogs maintained today.
If you spend even a small amount of time each day on the internet, chances are you’ve run across a blog or two. Perhaps your son, daughter, or even grandchild has one? Just like Elsa Zweifel’s daughter (see above image). Here are a couple of OWATC-hosted blogs (other than the one you’re reading) that are finishing up the testing phase:
Media Design Program
Rory’s Graphics Design Blog
So why should you have a blog?
First and foremost, the OWATC is a technology college. It is one of our responsibilities to keep up with the rest of the world in all fields of technology and its advances. Blogging is simply part of the world’s advancing community “networking” technology, and it should therefore be an integral part of the OWATC.
Your programs, classes, or department has never had an effective way to reach today’s ever-growing internet audience. Currently, the amount of information you can display on your website (if you even have one of your own) is extremely limited. There is really no way to show what students really do in your class, or what’s actually going on in the program or department. If prospective students were able to see or read more about a program – how “cool” it is to be a machinist or how creative you can be in the Media Design program – your enrollment numbers could grow even more. While some current/prospective students may not have access to the internet in their homes, chances are, they have reasonable and regular access to it somewhere else.
This new blog system allows the creation and simple management of an unlimited number of blogs. For example, you could make blogs for Culinary Arts, Media Design, Machining, Welding, Marketing, a main college blog, and more! If you want one (and if you have a reason for one), you can have one!
What can you post on your blog?
- News, announcements, and events could be posted for individual programs or classes, without having to try to get the announcement or content posted on the OWATC home page, program page, digital billboard, or marquee, where information and options are extremely limited.
- Event follow-up – there is always a multitude of pictures and everything else after any event you have, but there is usually no way to show it all to other OWATC employees, students, or the community. However, on a blog you can have as many pictures or other things as you want (let’s not go overboard though…). This would give the rest of the college or community (parents, sponsors, etc.) the chance to explore how it went during the event and find out more about what was going on. Your new blog would be the perfect way to show pictures or even video from, for example, this year’s SkillsUSA competition in Kansas!
- Program/class/department promotion – Do you need a way to show what students actually do in your program? It’s difficult for others to understand exactly what goes on in many programs/departments when all they have is a very short description on the website. If you could show what you do in your program, it might be even more successful. You could do this using both pictures and video.
- Blogs can impact others on a much more personal level. Because all the content on your blog can be very specific, you will be able to connect with other at a more personal, customized level. This may help current or prospective students feel more of a connection to the College, while at the same time get information that is meant specifically for them.
- Each blog will have a “Who’s Blogging” list of all the other blogs for the whole College, just as you can see above and to the right. This would allow your “readers” to easily discover other programs and areas of the College that also have blogs.
Should you be scared of managing your blog?
The back-end interface for writing and managing your blog posts (entries) is extremely simple!! The system we use is probably the easiest out there. Don’t let it stop you from having a blog. Do not be afraid of it!
Blogs can also be updated from anywhere, any time. You can post new information at your convenience - even from home. It’s also up to you to decide how often and how much content you post to your blog. While many people post multiple entries every day, the average “blogger” posts new content at least once a week.
How do you get a blog now?
It’s simple - sign up for the blogging class during Opening Institute during the week of August 4th! I, Rory Wallwork, will have a presentation to teach you how to post content to and manage your blog. During the presentation you’ll also be able to sign up for a blog. And please note - these blogs are not for personal use. They are only to be used for College-related material. The blog content will be monitored.
I look forward to seeing you there!
