Blogging

What:

Don't think of it simply as an online diary - blogging has become so much more! It now crosses paths with social networking, photo and video sharing and a dozen other emerging online tools.

Ease of use:

With some simple preliminary instruction, students will be blogging in no time. It's worth taking the opportunity to explore safety online as a class, regardless of the age group you're working with!

It's not simply providing personal details that cause problems, careers can be damaged by older students too free with their personal details, and what they did on the weekend.

Writing application:

Diary style stories are an obvious link to writing a story using a blog. There are however, a number of interesting things you can do with this format.

Students can write a section of their story each week on a blog, and then receive advice from the class on what should happen next!

Pacing can be explored particularly well using a blog. A developing narrative with a 'ticking clock' adds tension and can drive the story along - and a dated diary format lends itself well to this. Ask students to particularly consider the time they are updating their blog story, and incorporate it into the story whenever they write the next section. How much time has passed since the last update? How has the story developed since we heard from the protagonist?

Running two blogs with different characters is a way of involving two students in a single story. Links between the two blogs is encouraged, and it's a great opportunity to explore voice in a story. You can also explore a characters needs and wants in the story particularly well in this way.

Break a story up into seven parts - and explore each part of a three act structure with students as they write a portion of story that fits the traditional story profile.

Link out! - Encourage students to write a story that includes video links, images from flicker and hyperlinks to further develop their story.

Discussions related to blog format, how it's perceived and the way this influences content development are also important.

Which Blog application to choose?: You may have something within your school already if your school uses a product like Moodle. If you're looking after an external solution however, there are four that I particularly recommend.

• The first is Wordpress. Full of features, it's a very professional option. There are extra features available to you if you pay a small ongoing fee. Perhaps not as suitable individual student use with multiple accounts in a classroom, but for a collaborative piece I'd strongly consider it.
• Second comes Blogger: One of the best free blogging networks in my opinion. Easy to use, and easy to customise if you want to add a little flair to your blog.
• Edublogs is another good example, targetting educational groups specifically. As you'd expect, the resources available on the site are more suitable. for a class group. The thing I like about Edublogs is that it's presented in a very unthreatening way. Perfect for those of us that are dipping our toes in the blogging waters for the first time!
• Another great blogging tool for first timers, Poserous is just about as simple as you can get. No registration required, simply email your first post to post@posterous.com and your blog is created automatically!! You'll recieve details of how to access your newly created blog via a return email.
• Finally, and perhaps the best for an educational setting is Edmodo, the perfect tool for a class full of bloggers all working on separate projects. It's particularly suited to a classroom environment, with different features for teachers and students. Well worth a look.

Suited: Early secondary students and above.

Teaching with an existing text:

Exploring what you know of a class text by making observations in a blog is a very active way of exploring material. You might for example, link to information on slavery in the south online from your blog commentary about To Kill a Mocking Bird.

Create a blog as a class, and have everyone to contribute to a discussion with the intention of using it as a resource for students through the year. It's a great way of providing them with a resource they can access easily from home as well.