This document discusses using a blog as a teaching tool in a technology integrated classroom and provides several examples of how to embed and share various types of educational content on a blog. It recommends using Box.net, Google Docs, and Embedit.in to embed documents, Slideshare.com to present slideshows, Screencast-o-matic for screencasts, Vocaroo.com for audio recordings, and YouTube or other sites to add videos. It also notes that students can leave comments on blog posts and the teacher can easily reply.

1. A blog can be a
fantastic teaching
tool in a technology
integrated
classroom
(revised)
By Fiona Beal
fiona@schoolnet.org.za
http://schoolnetsa.blogspot.com

2. 1. Use Box.net
(http://box.net) or
Google Docs to link to
documents you wish to
share.

3. *For example
Stored in Box.net:
Stored in Google Docs:

4. 2. Use Embedit.in to link
to documents you
have created
Embedit.in is a fantastic application that allows you
to embed all sorts of different documents on your
blog by creating an embed code.

5. *For example

6. *Go to http://embedit.in

7. *Go to My embeds and sign in using one of your accounts – I use
my Google account

8. *Go to Select Files and find the file you want on your computer.

9. *Copy the embed code into your blog post

10. *Make sure you put it into the HTML part of the blog post

11. *This is the result.

12. 3. Use Slideshare.com
for more detailed
instructions
Slideshare is a fantastic way to present a ebook type
of instruction to a class. You create each page in
PowerPoint.

13. For example…

14. *Go to Slideshare.com, join and click on Upload to find the
Powerpoint or PDF you want to use.

15. *When your document appears click on embed to get the code
to add to your blog in the HTML section of the post.

16. *Here is the embed code

17. 4. Use Screencasts to
explain something
more complicated
My favourite screencasting programme is
definitely Screencast-o-matic

18. *Join and log in. Start recording by following the instructions.

19. *This is what it looks like when you are finished. You can embed
it, upload it to YouTube, or download it as a movie file.
This is a
screencast
with voice

20. 5. Use verbal
instructions on your
blog using
Vocaroo.com
Vocaroo.com is so easy to use. You can
download the result as a .wav file, or you can
simply embed it in your blog.

21. *Join Vocaroo.com, click to record and start speaking when
prompted.

22. *Paste the embed code into your blog

23. *This is the result

24. 6. You can easily add
videos to your blog
whether created or
embedded

25. 7. One of the very useful
aspect of a blog as a
teaching tool is that
your students can
comment underneath
each post and you
can easily reply to
their comments.

26. These are just a few of the ways you can make
your blog a great teaching tool. What’s more
they are all free! Perhaps you have tried out
others that you would like to share?