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HOW TO USE A BLOG AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL

WHILE BLOGGING ORIGINALLY HAD THE PURPOSE OF EASILY
ALLOWING PEOPLE TO POST THEIR PERSONAL THOUGHTS ONLINE,
BLOGS TODAY ARE USED FOR A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT REASONS.
NOW SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING AND USEFUL BLOGS ARE
USED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES, WHERE THE FOCUS IS TO
EDUCATE AN AUDIENCE ABOUT A SPECIFIC TOPIC. WHEN USING A
BLOG FOR THIS PURPOSE HOWEVER, THERE ARE A FEW
ADDITIONAL STEPS THAT YOU MUST CONSIDER BEFORE YOU
CREATE YOUR BLOG AND CUSTOMIZE IT TO YOUR WEBSITE. MOST
OF THESE STEPS ARE RATHER STRAIGHTFORWARD, BUT SHOULD
STILL BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION.

DETERMINE THE TARGET MARKET FOR YOUR BLOG
CHOOSING YOUR TARGET MARKET IS A STANDARD STEP FOR ANY ONLINE
OR OFFLINE BUSINESS ENDEAVOR YOU CHOOSE TO GO INTO. THIS IS
ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR AN EDUCATIONAL BLOG, BECAUSE IN ADDITION TO
DETERMINING YOUR TARGET MARKET AND THE SPECIFIC NICHE, YOU
ALSO HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT KNOWLEDGE LEVEL YOUR DESIRED TARGET
AUDIENCE HAS OF YOUR SUBJECT MATERIAL. THE KNOWLEDGE LEVEL
WILL ALSO HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE CONTENT CONTAINED IN YOUR
EDUCATIONAL BLOG.
ARE YOU EDUCATING PEOPLE WHO HAVE ALMOST NO KNOWLEDGE OF
YOUR TOPIC, OR ARE YOU EDUCATING PEOPLE WHO HAVE A BASIC
KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUBJECT AND ARE ENHANCING WHAT THEY KNOW?
BOTH AUDIENCES WILL REQUIRE VERY DIFFERENT KINDS OF
INFORMATION, EVEN IF IT IS THE SAME SUBJECT OR NICHE.

DETERMINE HOW YOU WANT TO EDUCATE YOUR USERS

IN ORDER TO KNOW HOW YOU WANT TO EDUCATE YOUR USERS,
YOU WILL NEED TO DECIDE WHAT IT IS YOUR BLOG IS GOING TO
ACCOMPLISH. WILL IT BE TO PROVIDE A PLACE TO POST
COMPREHENSIVE DETAILS ABOUT SPECIFIC PRODUCTS YOU OFFER,
A PLACE TO POST CLASS HOMEWORK AND LESSONS, OR PERHAPS
A WAY TO SHARE ANSWERS TO THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS YOU GET IN YOUR BUSINESS? ONCE YOU HAVE
DETERMINED THE SPECIFIC TYPE OF EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE YOUR
BLOG WILL SERVE, YOU WILL NEED TO SET UP THE BLOG TO ALLOW
IT TO SUPPORT YOUR SPECIFIED GOALS.

DETERMINE THE FORMAT FOR YOUR BLOG
ONCE YOU HAVE DETERMINED HOW YOU WANT TO EDUCATE YOUR USERS,
OR TARGET MARKET, YOU WILL NEED TO DETERMINE THE FORMAT FOR
YOUR BLOG, OR HOW YOU WILL PRESENT THE INFORMATION.
IF YOUR PURPOSE IS TO ANSWER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, YOU
SHOULD SET UP YOUR BLOG TO HAVE MANY CATEGORIES, WHICH ARE
LISTED ON THE SIDE. THIS WILL GIVE VISITORS EASY ACCESS TO YOUR
QUESTIONS. YOU WOULD ALSO WANT TO HAVE LINKS TO THE LATEST FAQ
ENTRIES IN YOUR SIDEBAR. THE TITLE OF YOUR FAQ ENTRY, SHOULD BE
THE QUESTION, AND BODY OF THE BLOG POST SHOULD CONTAIN YOUR
ANSWER. IF YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO PUT A LINK IN YOUR BLOG ENTRY,
YOU SHOULD LINK TO ANOTHER PART OF YOUR SITE THAT GIVES EVEN
MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE RELATED QUESTION IF
AVAILABLE.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, YOU SHOULD SET UP YOUR BLOG TO HAVE
ENOUGH CATEGORIES TO DEFINE THE LARGEST GROUPING OF PRODUCTS.
THE TITLE OF YOUR BLOG SHOULD BE THE PRODUCT NAME AND THE
PHRASE 'FEATURE SET', OR 'INSTRUCTIONS'. THE POST BODY SHOULD BE
THE INSTRUCTIONS OR FEATURE SET, OR IT COULD BE A BRIEF
DESCRIPTION WITH A LINK TO A DOWNLOADABLE PDF FILE OF THE
FEATURE SET OR INSTRUCTIONS.
IF YOUR BLOG'S PURPOSE IS TO POST LESSONS FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE
TAKING AN ONLINE COURSE, THEN YOU WOULD TYPICALLY ONLY NEED
CATEGORIES IF YOU ARE TEACHING MORE THAN ONE COURSE THROUGH
YOUR BLOG, AND IN THIS CASE, EACH CATEGORY WOULD BE NAMED
AFTER THE COURSE. EACH SPECIFIC BLOG POSTING WOULD HAVE THE
TITLE OF THE LESSON BEING TAUGHT, PLUS THE LESSON NUMBER (I.E. THE
CATEGORY WOULD BE COMPUTER SCIENCE 101, THE TITLE WOULD BE
LESSON 10: FUNCTIONS AND PROCEDURES). THE ACTUAL POST BODY
COULD BE THE ENTIRE LESSON, OR A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE LESSON
AND A LINK TO A DOWNLOADABLE PDF FILE THAT THE STUDENT CAN
PRINT OUT AND USE, OR BOTH (POSTING LESSON IN THE BLOG WITH A
LINK TO A DOWNLOADABLE VERSION OF THE LESSON.

ALLOW USERS TO COMMENT ON YOUR POSTINGS
ALLOWING USERS TO LEAVE COMMENTS ON YOUR BLOG WILL
ENABLE THEM TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT LESSONS, OR OTHER
EDUCATIONAL CONTENT. USING COMMENTS IS A GREAT WAY TO GET
FEEDBACK THAT YOU CAN USE TO FILL IN ANY MISSING PIECES
THAT YOU MAY HAVE OVERLOOKED. COMMENTS FROM YOUR USERS
WILL ALSO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PERSPECTIVES TO THE SUBJECT
MATTER, AND WILL ALLOW OTHER BLOG READERS TO ANSWER
QUESTIONS IF APPROPRIATE.

ALLOW USERS TO DOWNLOAD FILES FROM YOUR BLOG
IF YOU USE YOUR BLOG FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES, YOU WILL
PROBABLY HAVE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES THAT YOU WILL WANT TO
MAKE AVAILABLE TO YOUR USERS SUCH AS WHITE PAPERS,
LESSONS, PRODUCT INFORMATION SHEETS, OR A SYLLABUS.
DEPENDING UPON THE NATURE OF YOUR EDUCATIONAL BASED
BLOG, SOME OF THE INFORMATION YOU MAY WANT TO CONVEY IS
BEST DONE AS A PDF FILE INSTEAD OF A BLOG ENTRY. MOST OF
THE GOOD BLOGGING SOFTWARE TODAY WILL ALLOW YOU TO
UPLOAD FILES TO YOUR SITE THAT YOU CAN MAKE AVAILABLE TO
YOUR READERS/STUDENTS. THIS WILL GIVE YOU MORE FLEXIBILITY
IN THE WAY YOU CAN EDUCATE AND COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR
READERS.

AN EDUCATIONAL BLOG CAN BE A POWERFUL MEANS OF
COMMUNICATING WITH AND TEACHING YOUR AUDIENCE ABOUT THE
SPECIFIC INFORMATION YOU WISH TO SHARE. THE POWER OF
USING A BLOG IS THAT EDUCATING YOUR AUDIENCE CAN BE DONE
IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT WAYS. ONCE YOU HAVE THE CONTENT
IN YOUR BLOG, IT CAN BE A GREAT RESOURCE AND TOOL FOR YOUR
VISITORS FOR YEARS TO COME, AND IS VERY EASY TO MAINTAIN
AND UPDATE AS NEW MATERIAL BECOMES AVAILABLE. YOUR NEXT
STEP SHOULD BE TO LEARN HOWYinka Alege TO INCORPORATE OTHER
FEATURES INTO YOUR EDUCATIONAL BLOG THAT WILL ALLOW YOU
TO EARN REVENUE SO YOUR BLOG CAN PAY FOR THE MAINTENANCE
COSTS REQUIRED TO OPERATE IT.