Blogs
Rajinder Dulku, Emma Vanderstelt & Lauri Wright
What is a Blog?
A blog is a social media tool with specific characteristics and functions where regular posts on a specific topic or range of topics are made (Poore, 2015). Blogs are written by individuals and are written in a journal or diary format and others have a professional or subject based focus. Blogs are made up of several posts that are automatically archived and appear in reverse chronological order.
Blog Posts
Blog posts include an array of topics and formats. Posts may include “opinion, links, observations, commentary, reflections, discoveries, tips, announcements, advice, or anything else of interest or relevance to your readers. You can also add rich media (such as images, video, photos, quizzes, polls, audio, and graphics) to your post” (Poore, 2015).
A unique feature of blogs are tags. Tags are multiple keywords that are used for readers to search for blog content. It provides readers with key information in order to filter through posts (Poore, 2015).
So you want to start a blog?
It is very important to have a Blogging Plan when you use it for education. Use the checklist to assist you with blogging:
Scoping: What is your purpose or vision for the blog?
Why will you use a blog/blogs over other applications?
What type of blog do you want?
In education there are 2 main types of blogs:
1. Administration
2. Learning-focused (class blog or individual blogs)
Administration blog:
What sorts of messages or announcements will you post? Will students or parents be responsible for keeping up to-date with the latest announcements? Will you be uploading assignments for students to access at home? What if a student doesn’t have access at home? Will you expect them to access your blog at school or via a public library?
If for educational/teaching: Class blog or individual blogs? Will you post thinking/ reflection prompts? Will you use the blog for assessment? What considerations are there for teaching privacy, copyright, security? Will you set up a blog for each student or group, or will you ask them to do it themselves? Will you allow them to find their own blog site? What is the intended audience?
Pedagogy:
What are your objectives? What are your learning outcomes or success criteria? How will you communicate your expectations? How will you cover the set curriculum? How you will scaffold learning in the blogging environment? What instructions, guidelines, problem-solving approaches and work routines will you provide? How will you evaluate the effectiveness of using the blog in class? What will you tell students about how you will assess their work?
Students:
What students will be doing on the blog? What concepts you want students to engage with? What types of exchanges you want from students? What connections students should be making between the materials? Will students need technical assistance with using the service and can you provide this if necessary?
Instructor:
Are you using proven blogging tools such as WordPress or Blogger? Are there any shortcomings that you will have to work around? What technical or teaching assistance will you need in setting up the blog or blogs? How much time do you have to manage blogging in the classroom? What time management strategies will you need to have in place? Will you moderate comments and posts or will you ask students to work in rotating teams to do it
The Legal Side to Blogging
The Dark Side of Blogging
The Cyber world
Here is a short introduction to what the articles and blogs discuss. There are many rules in the world of blogging. Many are more norms and ethics than law. However, the line is a grey one.
According to Kercher, a flight attendant was fired because of her suggestive poses on the web that were taken in her work uniform. So it is important to be careful, because even though you have Freedom of Speech - they have implications professionally.
The other is to not copy and paste images from the web! A woman had her face be taken from Facebook and became a public meme. However, her face picture is not part of the public domain and was required to be taken down (Budget Girl, 2015). Be Weary!
A few other ethics to follow - it is improper to 'hijack' a blog. This means to use the comment section to divert readers to their own blog (Budget Girl, 2015; Lipton).
It is improper to copy and paste. Give credit where it is due (Kercher). As well as, correct any misinformation. However, the important thing is to not change your blog post when you have made a mistake because the readers depend on the material to stay consistent (Kercher). Therefore, you must create a new blog that entails the correction.
Always read the terms of service, sometimes there are hidden legalities. For example, Budget Girl (2015) found that Amazon has a cut and paste disclosure! Who knew!
Stay alert and good luck!
Want more?
Pearson, M. (2012). Blogging & tweeting without getting sued: A global guide to the law for anyone
writing online (pp. 1-240). Allen & Unwin.
The link below will provide you with a transcript of an interview from the authors to give more details about what the book covers.
Blogs can be run by the teacher, student or class.
Blogging can provide a platform for students where they are able to take ownership of their writing while experimenting and taking risks through their writing.
Digital citizenship
Archives their writing progress (becomes digital writing portfolio)
Responding to readings and assignments
Posting personal or reflective writing pieces
Teachers:
Providing writing assignments, models and prompts
Communication of classroom information and announcements
Links to resources
Building a community of learners
Class:
A hub for class announcements, assignments and exercises all in once place (beneficial for students, teachers and parents)
Workspace for sharing of ideas
Blog Platforms
There are many blog sites to choose from such as Wordpress.org, edublog.com and kidblog.com.
The blogging platform you choose for your classroom depends on many factors.
For example:
Who is running the blog? Teacher, student, class?
What is the purpose of your blog?
Do you want your blog to be visible to the public, private or classroom only?
How comfortable are you using this platform? Have you used this before?
Are you a first time blogger?
After you have answered these questions you should sign up for 2 blogs and actually play around with them. By playing around with them you will see which one will work for your classroom the best.
Tips for blogging
Set up goals, guidelines and expectation for you and your students. Once set up, post on the blog for ease of access and quick reference.
Get written permission from parents and guardians before students begin to blog
Integrate curriculum into the blogging in order to take literacy across the curriculum
Teach students writing and grammar to become better writers and improve writing skills through blogging
Teach students the dos and don’ts of commenting through a set of criteria
Read other classroom and students blogs to gain knowledge and ideas
Be committed! Set goals! For example, post every two weeks and gradually increase submissions.
Teach students about plagiarism and copyright laws.
Provide links to your sources.
References
Blogging in The Classroom: How to Get Started. (2016). Retrieved May 22, 2016, from http://www.onblastblog.com/blogging-in-the-classroom/
Budget Girl. (2015, February 20). How to blog legally. [Blog]. Retrieved from
http://www.diybudgetgirl.com/how-to-blog-legally/
How To Use Blogs In the Classroom - eLearning Industry. (2013). Retrieved May 22, 2016, from http://elearningindustry.com/how-to-use-blogs-in-the-classroom
Jade & Oak. (2015, December 14). 5 simple tweaks to legally protect your blog right now.
[Blog]. Retrieved from http://www.jadeoak.com/5-simple-tweaks-legally-protect-blog/
Kercher, K. Professional Blogging: Ethics and Rules.
Lipton, J. D. (2010). What blogging might teach about cybernorms. Akron Intellectual Property Journal, Forthcoming.
Morris, Gayle. (n.d.) Using Blogs in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.lsa.umich.edu/UMICH/sweetland/Home/Instructors/Teaching%20Resources/UsingBlogsintheClassroom.pdf
Poore, M. (2016). Using social media in the classroom: A best practice guide (2nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Sinha, R. (2013, May 16). Blogging in Classroom: Steps and Benefits. Retrieved May 22, 2016, from https://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/333-steps-benefits-blogging-in-education