More Examples of Blogs in the Classroom

Mr. Ford, who now operates www.schoolblogs.com, has a project blog site:

Project Weblogs

Some of the excellent student project topics include Mohammad Ali, Chopin and the Rainforest.

Unfortunately I found the SchoolBlogs site extremely slow even with a cable connection. I made a blog on this site but won't use it because the load time for pages is much to slow for use with students.

http://www.weblogg-ed.com/ has many entries about using blogs in education.

I just found another blogs with many links to edu blogs! It's a great site:

eduBlogs

Blogs in the classroom: Examples and "Challenges"

I posted a question on one of the Kidlink listservs and asked if any teachers are using blogs with their students. A teacher from Russia replied:


Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2004 21:55:28 +0400
From: Lucy Rylschikova

Hello Patti,
In November I have taken part in a bloggin project "What's in a
name?" It was my first project. Strictly speaking, it was not my own
project, I was only a participant. This project was announced by
Technospud. The coordinator was a young teacher from the USA. I am
not sure that I can give you her e-mail. But you can look through

technospudprojects.motime.com

As for me and my students this project was a great fun. But the
coordinator had a problem with some of students because of their
comments.

--
Best regards,
Lucy Rylschikova

---

Patti's thoughts...

The whole issue of comments on weblogs is a concern for me. I have worked in the KidSpace environment in Kidlink where all comments must be approved before they are made public. We have had some comments that were not approved and therefore never made public. Lucy mentions the problems that the moderator of this project had with comments. I think this is a serious concern. My own blog does not have the option for comments and while this is safe for students, it also eliminates the benefits of comments by those who would not post anything inappropriate.

I also visited several class weblogs and found that I could e-mail the student who wrote the blog. Thsi means that anyone who happens to visit her blog could send her an e-mail. I would not want to open that possibility for my students. I think this e-mail option is something that perhaps can be eliminated in the blog options though I am not sure about the various blogger websites and all of their options.

Here is another example of blogs used in elementary education:

Shoreham Elementary School: a small K-6 school in a rural setting, located on Lake Champlain.
Shoreham 5th grade

The school website seems to be a blog. Very interesting. I notice that the dates on the blog seem to be 2001-2002 when blogs first became popular. Student blogs are here:

Student blogs

I don't see much action after that date though I did notice a student's blog by Anna:

Anna's blog

that seems to continue into February 2004. I noticed a page where anyone can send Anna an e-mail but the script is no longer working. I would not want my students to get e-mails out of the blue from anyone on the Internet who happens to land on their blog. Some kind of security measures need to be in place.

Weblogs in Education: benefits and potentials

How can weblogs be used in education? Language arts teachers and content area teachers as well, might use blogs to excite students about the writing process. Publishing blogs on the Web gives students an audience and a purpose for their writing and thinking. They can take ownership of their work and blog about topics that are of interest to them. Students will quickly realize that the world can see their writing when they publish their blogs online. Perhaps this will inspire many students to take pride in their work and edit and revise before they click on the "publish" button. Others can post comments to their work (when the blog software gives the options for comments) which might bring the student back to the blog entry for more revisions. Teachers can post feedback for students who have written blogs. In a classroom setting there may not be time for all students to respond to a question. Blogs bring the opportunity for all students to speak their voice.

What are Weblogs?

I've spent the entire day today on my computer. I'm very tired of sitting! I have been working on my part of our team project. I've completed the section on Virtual Communities but am still working on the section about "Blogs."

What are Weblogs? Hmmm... I've read many articles and examined quite a few blogs that teachers have made for their classrooms. Very interesting! David Winer, back in 2001, described blogs with four words. He says they are personal, on the web, published and part of communities.

Weblogs or “blogs” are also described as dated online journal entries and personal writing spaces that express the voice of the person writing the blog. Blogs are read in reverse order with the most recent blog on the top of the screen. Because each blog is dated, this new genre allows students and teachers to examine and analyze the thinking and writing process. Anyone with an Internet connection can create a blog by joining a blog group already on the Web or by installing blog software on a web server of their own.

Blogs are template-based which makes bloggers instant “publishers” on the Web. That’s exciting for those who have no idea how to create webpages. Blogs can be on any topic and some have comments as an option which allows others to post feedback to the blogger.

Learning to add images

I wonder if I can add a picture. How will I do that? I can try...



Here's Ali!

Where's the sun?

It's almost Easter and we haven't seen much sun in a long time. I am cold sitting here at my computer. It has rained quite a bit lately.

Students will like this!

This looks very simple. I think my students will enjoy this.

Granny's first blog

Today I am starting my first blog. I am wondering how I can use this medium with my students. Would this be a great tool for them to use when writing their stories? I am wondering how we will do this. Hmmmm....