What is a blog?

The word “blog” is short for “we-blog” which evolved from the “web-log”. Blogs are online journals that focus on single or multiple topics or themes where the writer, AKA the blogger, expresses opinions and ideas of a personal and/or public nature.

The idea of the blog was to create a website in which users could easily publish online content without having the technical know-how to write code. The content created took the forms of text, images, audio, and video. All of these tools have been used to cover anything from personal topics similar to those in diaries to more public fair like the content found in newspapers and magazines.

Where a blog differs from most forms of writing is that it is interactive with the readers participating in the discussion. Instead of the information only being passed from writer to reader, readers are able to comment and blog their own responses, linking their posts to other resources or blogs.

The popularity of the blog erupted in the past decade with the rise of citizen journalism. This grassroots form of reporting the news has allowed for additional perspectives not often given a voice in more traditional media. This expanded access to information and discussions has engaged the populace in ways that few media or writing has done before.

For a simpler explanation of blogs, check out this YouTube video, created by Common Craft.

Some questions to ponder…

What are some ways that blogs might expand student perspectives? How might a blog be as beneficial to the blogger as the blog reader?

How might blogs also improve teacher practices?

Some del.icio.us resources:
http://del.icio.us/zacearly/blogging101

Why Not Blog?

Blogs are everywhere and schools are not immune to their influence. Students and teachers alike are blogging about their favorite books, classroom discussions, and experiment results. The ongoing conversation of a blogging community helps further this knowledge beyond the walls of the classroom.

Teachers use blogs to both facilitate learning in their classroom communities and develop their professional knowledge base.

Blogs are one of the tools of Web 2.0 that easily applicable to the 21st century classroom. This tool can be utilized to keep a daily journal, track science experiments, keep a portfolio, or respond to writing prompts. Besides the endless possibilities of learning opportunities, blogs can make it easy for teachers to keep track of conversations, compositions, and content.

Several examples of excellent classroom blogs can be found here.

Teachers can even learn more about their profession through blogging. Imagine a staff room filled with thousands of educators…well…imagine those educators on their most inspired and intellectually stimulating day. Now imagine that you are in that room and the ideas are coming from all angles and bouncing from one teacher to the next. The possibilities for ways in which we can reach our students are endless. That’s what participating on the education blogosphere is like. It’s a community of learners from all over the world who are connected through the blog.

I have gathered several blogs with a focus on facilitating learning here.

Some questions to ponder…

What could be some possible projects for a class blog?

What are some ways a classroom blog might benefit the learning in your classroom?

What are some ways participation in a blogging community of educators might enhance your facilitation of learning?

How to Blog

The best part about blogging (and most elements of Web 2.0) is that anyone can do it. There are plenty of free services out there that make it easy to get started. Here are a few that I have used or have been recommended to me:

Blogger: Google owns this service. Like most Google products, Blogger is regularly updated with the latest features and provides great networking opportunities that other services can’t live up to. However, beware of the navigation bar and the infamous “next blog” button that can take the reader to any blog on Blogger’s network, even those which feature questionable material.

Edublogs: Edublogs is powered by the very popular WordPress, the publishing platform used by educators from kindergarten to graduate school. This service provides more safety and privacy settings that can help make your blog safe and useful.

Blogmeister: David Warlick and The Landmark Project offer this service for free to educators. All that you need is a school code and Blogmeister will happily welcome you to the family.

21Classes: 21Classes is provided by 21Publish, which in turn provides an easy way to set up a multi-user blog. Like Edublogs, 21Classes can offer a lot in the area of security and privacy.

My complete list of educationally friendly blogging services can be found here.

Once you have chosen a service, all that has to be done is to register and set up your blog. Typically, an email address is needed as well as some basic information in order to set up an account. After registering, you can set up the look of the blog as well as your permissions and privacy settings.

Now it’s time to blog! With most services, one has to simply click on an icon or text that reads “new post” and the writing may commence. Utilize all the tools offered to you while composing your posts. There are usually features that allow one to check spelling, change the font, and insert pictures or videos.

Once the post is complete, all a blogger has to do is click the “publish” button, but this is not where blogging ends. In order for a blog to expand knowledge and perspectives, it is important to read and respond to comments as well as to read and comment on other blogs. You know that the richness of a conversation will grow when bloggers even start to hyperlink back to one another’s posts.

Be sure to maintain your blog and add the blogs you like to read to your blogroll (a list of favorite blogs). Reading and commenting on others’ blogs also helps the conversation to go well beyond the original post.

Whether you already have a blog or have just established one today, I would like for everyone to post the URL to his or her blog in the comments of this post with a brief description of the content within. I’ll add these blogs to the blogroll at the left in order to keep our new community of bloggers connected beyond this conference.

For more resources on blogging basics, go here.

For more advanced blogging tools such as adding videos, incorporating graphic organizers, or using RSS feeds, click here.