Blogs

== BLOGS ==

What is a blog?
A blog, or weblog, is effectively an online digital journal. Watch this three minute video: [|'Blogs in Plain English'].

How can I use a blog in my classroom?

 * Create a school/class blog to replace newsletters - keep parents informed and include images, audio, links etc
 * Post learning materials and resources online for your students to access from school or from home [[image:http://edublogs.org/wp-content/themes/edublogs-v2-new/images/fun.gif align="right"]]
 * Host online discussions - readers can reply to any post on the blog and you can moderate all comments before they are published
 * Students upload their work with self-reflections to their blog and create an online digital portfolio, which allows feedback from peers, teachers, parents and the wider community
 * Get your students blogging 'in character' to demonstrate their understandings in any subject area
 * Share your resources online with other teachers - create a team blog to assist you in planning units

Where can I see some examples?

 * [|Junior Crew Blog] and [|Room 13's Blog Spot] - Class blogs created by Sue King at Belvoir Special Development School
 * [|Area 13 at Melrose]- Grade 1/2 Class blog created by Tamara Steinhauser at Melrose Primary School
 * [|Room 20's Blog] - Class blog
 * [|Emily L BPS] - Student blog
 * [|Victorian Education Channel blog resources]

How can I get started?

 * [[image:http://www.dailywriting.net/Global-Teacher.gif align="center"]] || Global Teacher and Global Student are blogging communities created for Victorian government schools. They use Wordpress software (like Edublogs) and contain NO advertising. Use Global Teacher to create a **teacher blog** and use Global Student to create a **class blog** or **student blogs**.
 * Sign up for a [|free GlobalTeacher blog]
 * Sign up for [|free GlobalStudent blogs]
 * Video tutorials
 * Discussion forums ||
 * [[image:wss3.jpg]] || You can create blogs within your school SharePoint site
 * Video tutorials
 * Discussion forum ||
 * [[image:logo-classes.gif]] || 21 Classes is a free blogging tool, which comes with 50MB of upload space and allows you to make your blog posts private
 * Sign up for a [|21 Classes blog] ||