Using+Weblogs+(Blogs)

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=What in the World is a Blog Anyway?=

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=Why Blogs?=

Handout: [|7 Things You Should Know About Blogs]

 * Blog services are free
 * Can publish to the Internet without any knowledge of web design, HTML language, upload files, using Web editors, etc.
 * Students publish their work to a broad audience - they peers, parents, siblings, friends, etc. can all see and comment on their work, not just the teacher
 * Being web-based, blog posts can be written from any computer and from any location - no need for software purchases or saving files to USB drives
 * The authour has full control over who can view blog posts and who can comment to blog posts
 * Increased motivation for students - they know that their work is published to the world and that anyone, and not just their teacher, can access their work

Top 10 Reasons for Using a Blog in the Classroom
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=Education Examples=

Blogs in Administration
[|Mr. Sherman's Blog]: The blogging principal from South Park Elementary School in Deerfield, Illinois.

Blogs in Secondary
Hamlet06 - student role play a character and use blogs to publish diary entries in role. Other students must also comment to blog posts while in role. http://hamlet06.wikispaces.com/

Blogs in Elementary
[|Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog] - Grade One - Moose Jaw, Canada [|Kinderkids] - New Hampshire [|Debbie Froehlich] - another kindergarten class. Just the teacher blogs. [|Room 9 Nelson Central's Blog] - Year 2/3 class from New Zealand - current [|Room One Mapua's Blog] - year 2/3 class from New Zealand - no longer used but good to look at as an example 60+ posts [|Tracy Muller's Kindergarten Class] - Only the teacher blogs [|2M Little Gems] - A class of Australian grade one students. [|Mrs. Lichtenwald's Class] - Grade One - Moose Jaw, Canada [|Ms. Schwichtenberg's Class] - Grade one - Commerce City, Colorado, USA [|Leah Dewhurst's Class] - Grade Two - Saskatchewan [|Ms. Howard's Class Writing Blog]

Blogs For Teacher Communication/Professional Development
St Francois Xavier Blogs - [|http://sfxschool.pbwiki.com/School Blogs] LeaderTalk - http://leadertalk.org/

=Getting Started=

Blog Services:

 * [|21Classes] - Teacher managed class blog

How to Use 21classes.com Video Demonstration
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 * [|Edublogs] - Individually managed blogs specifically for education
 * [|Wordpress] - Individually managed blogs

Setting Up A Blog:
This is a Live Demo using 21Classes. Click [|here] to access the demo class blog

Resources:

 * **Article**: Michaela W Colombo; Paul D Colombo. [|Using Blogs to Improve Instruction] The Education Digest; Dec 2007.
 * **PDF**: [|Using Blogs in Your Classroom]
 * **Web**: [|10 Articles All Bloggers Should Read]
 * **Web**: [|Blogging Helps Encourage Teen Writing]

=About Technology and Publishing to a Global Audience:=

Interview with Educator Kathy Cassidy of Moose Jaw media type="youtube" key="qZ8VAef8QM4&rel=1" height="355" width="425"

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