Teaching With Technology Through Student Blogs
Students Blog with New Classroom Technology & Improve Writing
Aug 25, 2009
More and more new classroom technology integration is incorporating student blogs into daily writing lessons. Students of all ages are publishing their stories, personal narratives, poems, essays, and thoughts in these online journals known as blogs. What’s more, they’re having a blast doing it. Here's how anyone can start teaching with technology through student blogs.
Basically, student blogs only differ from a written essay in that they offer students a culturally relevant way to publish their thoughts and be heard. Most importantly, educational blogs allow students to see their writing in a fun and polished setting. This confidence boost can offer incentive to strive for a higher standard in all areas of the classroom curriculum.
Start Teaching With Technology and Student Blogs for Free
There are four really good places when it comes to setting up educational blogs. Wordpress.com, Blogger.com, Windows Live, and 21classes.com. To get a free blog, all a person has to do is visit one of these sites and sign up for an account.
Educational Blogs on Blogger, Wordpress, or Windows Live
Windows Live, Wordpress, and Blogger are great sites for student blogs because they have professional templates and are easy to use. There are dozens of widgets students can have fun adding to these blogs, such as video bars, slideshows, calendars, links, book lists, new words of the day, quotes, or foreign language vocab. Once a person types content into one of these blogs, it really looks professional and polished.
Students Blog on 21Classes
21classes.com is perfect for teachers and classroom blogging because the teacher gets a blog site that comes with 20 other free blog pages embedded in it. Each student gets his or her own page, but the teacher has total control over all the blogs if necessary. This system is reliable, blocks out spam, and can be as private or as public as the teacher wants.
Teaching With Technology and Publishing Student Blogs
Usually a student has the option to type content directly into a blog site and click to publish. However, if a student is typing in a blog site and the internet connection falters, he or she will lose all their hard work. Generally it is a better idea to type a blog post into a word processing program, copy it, and paste it into an online blog post.
One fun aspect to classroom blogging is the comment box. Students will quickly develop a following of subscribers to their blog composed of interested family members, other student bloggers, and friends. Encouragement and constructive feedback from these supporters will be the biggest key in spurring students to write regularly. Not to mention the fun and educational value they’ll get from reading and critiquing other bloggers’ entries.
Teachers can check out related articles covering creative ideas for student blogs , tips for making polished educational blogs , and more fun ideas for classroom technology integration such as wikis, and audio or video podcasts.
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