This document discusses the benefits and considerations of student blogging. It outlines how blogging allows students to have an authentic audience for sharing work, ideas, and opinions. It promotes skills like multimedia and collaboration. Blogging also facilitates communication between students, teachers, families and other schools. The document provides examples of blog content and formats that are suitable for students. It also reviews features and moderation options of different blogging platforms. Tips are given for getting started and maintaining an educational blog.

1. Our Blogging
journeys

2. Our blogs

3. Put simply by the people at Commoncraft:
Blogs in plain English

5. Rachel Boyd, a teacher from Nelson, NZ,
sums it up in this video
Why let our students blog?

7. • Students from our classes
• Students from our classes
• Parents & family members
• Students’ extended family
• Colleagues at school
• Students from other schools
• Educators from around the globe

8. • Sharing news & events
• Sharing work
• Students’ ideas/opinions
• Accessing information, e.g. spelling lists,
homework
• Linking to other student/class blogs
• Links for projects via our diigo site
• Feedback on what’s happening at school
• Parent information
• Sharing/reviewing tools

9. • Authentic audience
• Familiar form of communication
• Student voice
• Multimedia capabilities – sharing of digital
work
• Global communication –collaborative work
with other classes in Australia & overseas,
comments from all over world, networking
with classes in NZ, UK & USA
• Feedback from others

10. • New skills
• Consider new ways of doing things, e.g.
podcasts, videos, web2.0 tools - Picturetrail,
slideshare, voicethread, audioboo
• Contact with other educators, both in
Australia & overseas
• Opportunity for shared, collaborative
learning experiences with others
• Student engagement

11. • Not blocked in schools, unlike some others
• Easy to use
• App available
• Ability to moderate comments
• Registering students or other users at different
levels – contributor, author, editor, administrator
• Ease of uploading files, media etc
• Edublogs forum
• Free, but with - no ads & more facilities when you
become a supporter – small annual fee & bulk
upgrades very reasonable
• The edublogger – great support & info

12. • Blocked in schools - but can be easily
unblocked
• Easy to use
• Multiple templates
• Ability to moderate comments
• Multiple contributors
• Ease of uploading files, media etc
• Automatic tags and search engines
• FREE!

13. • Easy to use
• App available for both Apple & Android
• Multiple templates
• Ability to moderate comments
• Multiple contributors
• Ease of uploading files, media etc
• Automatic tags and search engines
• FREE!

14. • Moderation of comments to avoid
inappropriate content
• Student anonymity & privacy
• Class blog with student posts or individual
blogs?
• Blogging is about reading as well as writing –
which blogs will you add to your blogroll?
• Consider subscribing to a blog reader for
updates on favourite blogs, e.g Google
Reader, feedly, iGoogle
• Comments – relevant & appropriate

15. • Interviewing parents about a particular topic
– can be written report or recorded as mp3
• PMI about school or a school event – can
use wallwisher or linoit
• Recounts of activities, e.g. buddy classes
• Reflections on learning
• Videos of talks, drama, assemblies, visitors
• Podcasts
• Book reviews

16. Great opportunity to connect & network
with others when new to blogging
Quadblogging set up and managed by
David Mitchell in UK

17. • Clairvaux Connects
• Room 6 Cyberkids – Year 3
• Little Voices Little Scholars – Year 2
• Room 2 All Stars – Reception & Year 1
• Mr Webb (NZ)
• Mr C's Class (USA)
• Allstars – Library
• Room 102 – 1st grade
• Room 6 St Mary’s (NZ)
• 4KM & 4KJ

18. • What Ed Said
• Blogging through the Fourth Dimension
• Spencer’s Scratch Pad
• For the love of learning
• The Wejr Board
• On an e-journey with Generation Y
• Cool Tools for 21st century learning
• The Principal of Change
• A view from the middle
• Life is not a race to be finished first

19. • Clustrmaps – see where your visitors are coming
from
• Widgetbox – lots of widgets, e.g. clocks, games
• Counters – how many visitors are you getting?
• Vokis – record a welcome message for your
visitors
• Avatars – use an avatar instead of a photo – great
for students to have identity but stay anonymous
• More avatars

20. • Promote your blog
• Keep it up to date
• The blogging community
• Comments work both ways!
• Start simple
• Pam Thompson @pam_thompson
thompsonpam@gmail.com
• Jarrod Lamshed @jlamshed
jglamshed@gmail.com