Tips On Blogging With Students

We’ve set up a Getting Started With Edublogs page on this blog to provide a central location for “how to” resources. Please let us know if you have any resources to add to this page.

Meantime we receive many requests for tips on blogging with students so here is some advice from educators who are experienced with using blogs in their classrooms.

Using Blogs With Students

Al Upton’s advice to educators new to using blogs is to start first with a class blog and move toward students posting about their own learning on their own blogs when they feel comfortable.

Kim Cofino says “One of my biggest stumbling blocks, as I’ve switched gears from middle to elementary school, is individual e-mail accounts for the students“. Her solution is Gmail allows you to create subsidiary accounts that link to an individual account which means that one teacher can have permanent e-mail accounts for all students delivered into one teacher e-mail account.

Here are Kim Confino’s tips for setting up students as Contributors on Edublogs – the quick and easy way so that:

• Individual students have log-ins WITHOUT individual e-mail accounts
• Individual student contributors to the blog WITHOUT their blog
• All posts are approved by the blog administrator before posting.

Parental consent is an aspect that needs to be considered. Clay Burell uses a Parents Consent For Student Weblog Letter to inform parents of the aims of using blogs and let parents choose the level of privacy – name, image in photos or videos, comment moderation – for their “child.”

Matt Susan Morgan shares her conversation with Matt, one of her students, on how his classes were going, specifically regarding the use of technology. Here’s an extract from Susan’s post:

Well, I wish teachers wouldn’t assign stuff for no reason. It seems that they are just adding on technology projects on top of the other things we already do.

“He senses from some teachers that they feel they have to “do” technology, not that they want to. His biggest criticism is the way we blog. A teacher posts a question, and the student writes a nightly response to it, much like he would do in a reading log or journal. He said there’s not much follow-up to the posting, either by students or teachers.

What Matt wishes is that his teachers would consider using blogs or forums to extend his learning.

Konrad Glogowski’s Blog of Proximal Development shares a variety of tips for blogging with students such as Replacing Grading With Conversations, Making Assessments More Personally Relevant, How to Grow a Blog and Towards Reflective BlogTalk (Image by Teach and Learn).

Konrad wants his students:

to see their blogs and their entries as organic entities, as attempts to engage with ideas, as evidence of growth and development. It’s about maintaining conversations, not ending them by saying “Well done!” or “Good job!”

 

When it comes to incorporating blogging into the classroom, there are a few key tips to keep in mind.  Blogging can be a powerful tool for students to develop their writing skills, share their thoughts and ideas, and engage in meaningful discussions with their peers. 

Here are some tips for effectively integrating blogging into your classroom:

i) Establish clear guidelines

Before introducing blogging to your students, it’s important to establish clear guidelines and expectations. This can include guidelines for appropriate language, respectful dialogue, and citation of sources. By setting clear expectations from the start, you can create a positive and respectful online environment for your students.

ii) Provide feedback

Just as you would with traditional writing assignments, it’s important to provide constructive feedback on students’ blog posts. Encourage students to revise and edit their work based on your feedback, and guide how they can improve their writing skills.

iii) Encourage interaction

One of the key benefits of blogging is the opportunity for students to engage in meaningful discussions with their peers. Encourage students to comment on each other’s blog posts, ask questions, and provide feedback. This can help foster a sense of community within the classroom and encourage peer-to-peer learning.

iv) Use prompts

Some students may find it challenging to come up with ideas for their blog posts. Writing prompts can help them get started and inspire them to explore new topics. Prompts can be related to the curriculum or open-ended to allow students to express their creativity.

v) Incorporate multimedia

Encourage students to incorporate multimedia elements such as images, videos, and infographics into their blog posts to make them more engaging and visually appealing.

vi) Foster a supportive environment

Create an inclusive environment where students feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. Encourage respectful dialogue and open-mindedness.

By following these tips, educators can effectively leverage blogging as a tool to enhance students’ writing and critical thinking skills, while also fostering a sense of community within the classroom.

FINAL THOUGHT

What is your advice to educators starting out blogging with students? What has worked? What has caused problems? Can you recommend other posts that educators should read on this topic?

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