What is a ‘Blog’? A blog is an on line journal/diary that can be used as a means of easy web publishing. ‘Bloggers’ are able to publish text, photos, video and or links very easily. This means anyone can create and manage a website on any subject, all is needed is an e-mail address.
Blogs are made up of posts or entries that are created regularly by the author/s. To create a blog you need to access a blogging tool, such as Edublogs, Blogmeister or by far the most popular and intuitive is. www.Blogger.com
Why ‘Blog’?
There are many educational advantages to blogging such as:
- It allows the easy sharing of information eg news, homework resources etc
- It motivates children to become authors by providing children with an instant worldwide audience
- Offering a simple interface which allows work to be easily drafted, redrafted and edits to be made before final publishing
- Allowing children and adults to be part of an on-going discussion forum
- Creating excellent home school links, enabling parents to view an online record of work and events created throughout the year
- It taps into the tools young people use naturally to communicate online
- Providing educators with a tool for reflection and thought on their pedagogy
Blogging Safety
When blogging, there are a number of considerations that must be thought about by both teachers and pupils to ensure users feel safe and protected when online. Therefore blogging provides an excellent context for teaching e-safety and aspects of PSHE + C.
Recommendations for safety:
- Gain parental permission for posting photos/videos
- Avoid using full names of children
- Spend time educating children on appropriate posts and comments
- Consider moderating comments depending on the use of the blog
- If using Blogger you may want to remove the next blog button on the top navigation bar to avoid visiting unsuitable blogs
- Consider educating parents on the use of blogging
http://www.childnet-int.org/downloads/blog_leaflet.pdf
How to Blog
For detailed help sheets on:
How to blog
How to insert video
How to embed content - e.g. googlemaps
How to add links
How to remove the Nav Bar
Click here
