KIDBLOG A Blogging Platform for Schools Presentation by
KIDBLOG A Blogging Platform for Schools Presentation by Isobel, Amy, Rachel and Jennifer
Blogging It is impossible to explain the term blogging without first explaining what is meant by the word BLOG According to encyclopedia britannica A Weblog or blog Is An online journal where an individual, group, or corporation presents a record of activities, thoughts, or beliefs. Blogging is therefore the action of writing or maintaining a blog.
Why do people blog? you may be Wondering why anyone would want to have their own blog. I believe the answer lies in the fact that every human has a voice and an opinion And many want these opinions to be heard. The internet provides people With a medium to get their point across and blogging seems to be the perfect way to do this. Bloggers have the opportunity of reaching hundreds or even thousands of people each and every day.
Blogging And Educa. Tion Blogging has become a worldwide phenomenon so it is no surprise that it has grabbed the attention of many educators across the globe.
ls l i k s y c es litera v It impro It’s about being part of a community It encourages online collaboratio n Why do we use blogs in school? It builds confidence It inspires creativity It acts as a permanent archive It’s fun!
If using blogs in the classroom makes school work "less agonizingly painful" then surely they are an indispensable educational resource.
If I was to summarise why we use blogs in education in one sentence it would be as follows: “We blog to Learn and to Share our learning”
What should a blog have to make it user friendly and school friendly? Permission from school authority and parents to use Kidblog. Know the Internet Policy within the school. Select an appropriate software for your blog. Privacy Settings - Decide to make Kidblog public or private in your classroom.
rules for school blogging Make sure all students and all learning types understand the procedures and rules in place for the blog and for their own internet safety. One good idea would be to draw up the 10 Social Media / Blogging rules Commandments as a class group. Here is an example of some that I did with my own second year class group in conjunction with catholic schools week 2015.
How to manage and make the blog user friendly Group students - organise students into groups and lists. Teachers monitoring and efficiently managing all posts and content. Write posts for an authentic audience. Promote the blog throughout the school, website and online if possible. Collaborate with other schools to get your class blog out there. One successful
student feedback Two Stars and a Wish - Mark blogs on two things you found positive and one way in which they could make it better. Blogging leads to peer learning, peer assessment and a sense of ownership, all of which are highly motivational for students. Activity Reports - Monitor progress with detailed user reports. Also very useful for parent teacher meetings and reports.
What is Kid. Blog? ? ? Kidblog is an online blogging platform for children. Made for teachers by teachers Allows schools and teachers to set up and monitor individual blogs for students Supports student learning Creates sense of online identity and community 5 million students, teachers & parents are using kidblog!
Advantages of Kid. Blog ● ● ● Easy to set up Simple navigation Students do not need an email Can connect to Google Drive Teacher has complete control ● ● ● Digital Portfolio Will last for whole duration of school Parental Involvement Advertisement free Peer assessment and group involvement
Why teachers are choosing Kid. Blog Safe: Provides a secure classroom blogging space. Teachers can monitor all activity within their blogging community. Simple: Child Friendly, No distractions, No ads Authentic : Peer Audience, Meaningful Purpose Transformative: Built By Teachers for teacher, new
Ways Teachers are using Kid. Blog Creative Writing Publishing becomes an integral part of the writing process – not an afterthought. Book Club A perfect way to get your students reading, writing, and responding to literature. Global Pen Pals Motivate students to write by expanding their audience beyond the classroom. Digital Portfolio An ideal way to demonstrate learning growth through pictures, video, writing, and more.
How to set your class up on Kidblog Administrator Account Select Click to Create a Class. Enter username, password, and class name details. Select the grey Create Class button Click the Add New Users button to add users individually or in bulk. The teacher can also access a join code so students can add themselves to the blog. Keep in mind the class name you entered is also the blog name.
FREE 30 DAY TRIAL INCLUDES; ❖ Safe and simple student publishing ❖ Customized privacy settings ❖ Choice of audience ❖ Draft -> Review -> Publish writing process ❖ Media library with over 400 ready-to-use images ❖ Student portfolio
Drawbacks of Kidblog 1. 2. 3. 4. Time consuming Limited space & AVAILABILITY Limited access to Technology Training
1. time consuming ‘teachers find it difficult to find time to use in rigid course structure’ ● Teachers noted that they found it difficult to find time to incorporate Kidblog into their lessons because of the amount of time which needed to be devoted to it in order to use it well. ● This obviously is not refined to kidblog alone but to any other blogging platform
2. Limited Space The default is 100 MB, which gets eaten up quickly if your students are posting a lot of pictures. ‘There are ways around this, however- you could upload pictures/files to a separate account (Flickr or Schooltube, for example) and simply have students put links on their blogs that point to these offsite hosts. ’
3. limited access to technology Children may not have access to internet or other hardware / software required for kidblog to work at home teachers may have to give up class time to it.
4. training May be costly and time consuming to train staff to use it. How Do you go about training teachers to use it? the PDST Technology in Education also runs the following course entitled, 'Creating your School’s Website using Scoilnet Blogs'.
Last Points ● Some of the great features are only available to premium account holders. ● You can only avail of a 30 day trial for free Teachers need to check Kid. Blog frequently to approve posts Students cannot edit each others' posts
PRIVATE kidblog in action A Fun, Interactive way of learning! 4 Week Computer Studies
BLOGGING PRESENTATION - INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE!
TEACHER PORTFOLIO - VISIBLE TO ME ONLY - CLASS LISTS & USERS
CAN SELECT AUDIENCE - PIN POSTS - PRIVACY & PARENT OPTION
EASY TO ASSIGN TASKS & GOOD NAVIGATON FOR STUDENTS
notifications - Choose to turn on/off
ABILITY TO SEE POSTS AND CLASS LISTS AT EASE
public kidblog in action - MRS BOYCE’s BLOG, cork
Overall we would give Kidblog the thumbs up but it may not suit all classes. The drawbacks of Kidblog are drawbacks you will find with almost every blogging platform. taking this into account we think kidblog is the way to go for secondary schools today
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! WE WILL NOW ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE…. .
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