Blogs+in+Education

=**Blogging**=

**What is a blog?**
At it's most basic, a blog is an online journal. Usually one writer makes regular postings and readers make comments. It's an easy (and free) way to make a web presence, and bloggers often group together into online communities that read each other's posts and comment on them.

Take a look at this 3 minute video called Blogs in Plain English at http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs


 * What blogging does for students**
 * Helps them find their voice
 * Creates enthusiasm for writing and communications
 * Engages students in conversation and learning
 * Provides an opportunity to teach about responsible journalism
 * Empowers students with a worldwide audience

LINK: An overview of [|educational blogging] ONLINE MAGAZINE: [|EduBlog Magazine]

> [|Beth's Thoughts on Educational Blogging] • [|Weblog-ed (a blog about Web 2.0 tools from THE guru of blogging, Will Richardson)] • [|The Never-Ending Search (School Library guru)]
 * Ways to use blogging in the classroom**
 * Professional Communication

> [|Amy Stenson's Blog (OGM)] • [|Mrs. Kochel's OMS Book Blog] • [|Blog Write (a teacher's instructions to students with links to student blogs)] • [|Write On (Mr. Monson in Duluth communicates with parents)]
 * Teacher Communication (with parents and students)

> [|English 7B Blog (from an International School in China)] • Hamlet Character blogs • [|Collaboration Nation (8th grade team in CT with individual student blogs)] • [|Presidential Election 2008 blog from Jefferson HS (students respond to posts)]
 * Blogs as a discussion tool (either the teacher posts and students make comments, or students are allowed to post and comment)

> [|Student Poetry] • [|Current Events Blog from Kennedy HS (students do the blogging)]
 * Blogs as a publication tool

Samples from Bloomington Teachers (mainly from the 2007-2008 school year) [|Will Richardson's Links to Educational Blogs] [|Find samples of blogging in education here (scroll down the left column to find many categorized blogs)] [|Edublogger Awards ("The Eddies")]
 * Directories of Educational Blogs**


 * Ideas for Classroom Use**
 * Reflection on readings
 * Analysis of Current Events
 * Role playing a character from history or a novel
 * Creating an online portfolio
 * Sharing resources
 * Reporting on school news
 * Tracking the progress of a science experiment


 * Educational Blogging:** [|Articles and Resources]

[|Blogger] [|Edublogs] [| LiveJournal] [|Gaggle] (a student e-mail service that includes a blogging feature) [|Typepad] (a pay service)
 * Blogging Services**

Question: How do I search the Internet to find content in blogs? Answer: Use a specialized search engine [|Technorati] [|Google Blog Search]

Question: How do I keep track of all the blogs I read???? Answer: Use an Aggregator [|Bloglines] [|Google Reader]