Rationale for student blogs:- To give students a platform to connect, communicate and collaborate with an authentic audience that includes students, teachers, parents, local community and a global community.
Blogging is a tool that allows students to make their work look good, shows what they have learned and achieved, gives voice to their ideas and opinions, provides a space for journal entries, allows an area for reflection and a platform for digital portfolios. (See my 20 reasons for students to blog post)
To create student blogs, the following essential content and topics will be covered in my classes.
- Appropriate user names, passwords and blog url
- Writing posts and pages
- Using the dashboard and managing posts
- How to categorise and tag post entries (for personal and search engine purposes)
- How to write reflective and descriptive journal entries
- Appropriate content for school based online blogs
- How to instigate and maintain conversations, using comments
- How to comment appropriately on blog posts, email thank you replies to people who comment on their blogs
- Appropriate behaviours including plagiarism, cyber safety and digital citizenship
- The use of widgets in the sidebar eg website links, categories, clustrmaps, feedjit,
- How to use their blog for reflective purposes.
- How to insert images
- Resizing images using eg irfanview etc
Worthwhile content
- Introduce various web2.0 tools to give an attractive appearance and rich content eg toondoo, wordle, slideshare etc
- How to use and create avatars, vokis etc
- How to add hyperlinks
- Addition of further widgets for effect eg weather pixie, slideshare widgets etc
- How to embed web2.0 tools by using the resultant code
- Work that reflects their own personal identity and learning styles
- How to add or link multimedia content including podcasts, digital stories and movies
- How to add MS Powerpoint and other MS Office docs (for PC schools) etc eg www.slideshare.net, scribd etc
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On an e-Journey with Generation Y 
Hey, thx. for the list. It will be very helpful.
Do you know what is up with edublogs? Very slow and cumbersome.
great points identified Anne, there is so much learning that accompanies blogging.
Hi Anne,
Thank you for the beautiful post. I only whish I had more time to translate you more often!
As you have told me to feel free, I did it again.
I’ve been too busy lately with the new school year and the next student blogging competition. I whish your students have a great time!
Ines
Since you are involved, please join the teachers Flat Classroom Project 2008 at:
http://teacher.flatclassroomproject.com
Thanks. Steve Madsen
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