"A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.

Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules.

In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not." --Blogger.com

 

Setting Up a Blog

1.  Go to www.blogger.com to sign up and create your blog. 2.  Click on the 'CREATE A BLOG" button.
3.  If you do not already have a Google account, you will need to create one on the following page OR you can sign in to your existing Google account now.
4.  Create a Display Name.
5.  Create a blog title and a URL
6.  Choose a template.
You are ready to start blogging.

 

Posting

Now you need to provide content for your blog. Posts are articles that you write. Each post must have a title. The title is hyperlinked automatically. Once you have created a post, you must 'publish' it in order that others may see it.

Your posts will always display the newest on top. You can add images, embedded media, and / or links to content elsewhere.

If you want others to visit your blog, you should 'burn' your blog using a feed burner. You can then add a gadget which will let people click to subscribe to your blog as an RSS feed. You can addother gadgets which may contribute to the nature and look of your blog.

 

Page Elements

Navigation

Go to Blogger.com and log in. This will take you to the Dashboard.

Go to Settings to set up preferences.

Explore the layout view. Chagne the layout and add gadgets.

• Blogs provide a space for sharing opinions and learning in order to grow communities of discourse and knowledge — a space where students and teachers can learn from each other.
• Blogs help learners to see knowledge as interconnected as opposed to a set of discrete facts.
• Blogs can give students a totally new perspective on the meaning of voice. As students explore their own learning and thinking and their distinctive voices emerge. Student voices are essential to the conversations we need to have about learning.
• Blogs foster ownership and choice. They help lead us away from students trying to find what the teacher wants in terms of an answer.
• The worldwide audience provides recognition for students that can be quite profound. Students feel more compelled to write when they believe many others may read and respond. It gives them motivation to excel. Students need to be taught skills to foster a contributing audience on their blog.
• The archive feature of blogging records ongoing learning. It facilitates reflection and evaluation. One student told me that he could easily find his thoughts on a matter and he could see how his thinking had changed and why.
• The opportunity for collective and collaborative learning is enormous. Students have the opportunity to read their classmates’ blogs and those of others. This is not possible in a regular classroom setting.
• Blogging provides the possibility of connecting with experts on the topic students are writing.
• The interactive nature of blogging creates enthusiasm for writing and communication.
• Blogging engages students in conversation and learning.
• Blogging encourages global conversations about learning–conversations not previously possible in our classrooms.
• Blogging provides the opportunity for our students to learn to write for life-long learning.
• Blogging affords us the opportunity to teach responsible public writing. Students can learn about the power of the published word and the responsibilities involved with public writing.

• -Pedagogy of Blogging
• -Student Safety and Responsible Blogging
• -Evaluating Blogs - Rubrics
• -Student Created Blogs