All resources for this class can be found at

teachnology.pbwiki.com under the Beginner Blogging page.

Contact me at tgabor@cccoe.k12.ca.us

 

What is a blog? 

    A blog is an online journal, where an author contributes content and others may leave comments. Author contributions, called "posts," are shown in reverse chronological order. Blogs may include text, images, web links and media. There are many free blogging tools available. These tools allow anyone to create a blog without knowing programming language or having a server to host your site. Someone else has already done the technical stuff for you!!!

 

• Title- the name of the blog and usually an image
• Posts- includes a title, the post text and any other media or files, the date of the post

• Comments- a link, usually at the bottom of each post, where readers can click to leave a comment on the post
• Archives- past posts, usually organized by month
• Categories- posts can be categorized, making it easier for readers to find specific topics
• Blogroll- a list of websites or other blogs that the blog author wants to highlight
• Widgets- these are little applets that can be added to a blog to make them more interesting or useful; different services offer different options
• RSS feed- many blogs can include a way for readers to automatically receive new posts without having to revisit the blog every day to check

Why use a blog in a school context? 

1. Blogs are great organizational tools for classrooms. You can post assignments, directions, homework, web links, reminders, etc., and students can access it from any place they have web access.

 

2. Blogs are a great way to foster discussion among students and across classes.  Blogs allow you (or students) to post questions to which students can respond via the comment feature. These can be fact based and tied to reading or more general and philosophical, requiring students to think critically and provide reasoned arguments. These discussions can be limited to just your classroom or expanded to include other classes at your site, or even classes at other sites. 

 

3. Blogs are great ways to get information to parents. Blogs can be updated daily. Blogs can include files for parents to access and download, websites with important information, and photos or videos of student work. While there can be new information posted all the time, old posts are still accessible, and there can be a section with permanent links.

 

4. Blogs are a great way to give students an authentic audience. When students post work to a blog, they are no longer writing for an audience of one (the teacher.) There is a bigger audience (the blog readers,) which can increase student engagement and create a feeling of authenticity. It also allows students to gather feedback from multiple sources. (And as a teacher, you don't have to haul home 30 or more papers- just go online to read and comment.) 

 

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