How to set up a blog
An Introduction to Blogging
A blog (weblog) is a special type of website. It displays entries or posts (comments) in reverse chronological order. Blogs have many purposes and are highly adaptable to whatever result the author wants to achieve. In education the benefits of setting up a blog are numerous.
A blog provides a space to write, show images, videos and sound. What is written or seen in this space depends upon what objectives a teacher is wishing to achieve. A blog is a place in which people can share their thoughts, work and ideas. This element of blogging makes it a great resource for use in the classroom. Children can share their work with parents, peers, the community and the wider world. Children can receive feedback almost instantly on a blog site, this can provide an area for peer assessment, self assessment and allow a child to read comments directly relating to their personal input. Blogging can inspire reluctant writers by giving them an immediate audience.
General ideas for using a blog:
- A diary for a school trip.
- A school book group.
- A school magazine.
- A place to share school work.
- A direct link with another school.
How to set up a class blog:
- Firstly you need to decide who your audience is going to be; is the blog just between your class, the school, parents or the wider community. The children need to know who is going to read the blog.
- Decide on your blog name. It could be the school name, or something more specific to the work you are planning to use the blog for. Remember, if you keep the name non specific you can have more specific sections within the blog.
- At this stage you need to choose a hosted blog service. This is the easiest way to set up a blog for beginners. These are a few of the best free hosts: http://wordpress.com/, https://www.blogger.com/start , http://www.typepad.com/ and http://www.vox.com/
- For details on how to sign up to each of the hosts mentioned click here http://www.mahalo.com/How_to_Set_Up_a_Blog_for_Beginners
- Another option, which I recommend, is: www.21classes.com. I have set up a blog on using this host for you to explore: http://thewillowsschool.21classes.com This is only set up as a brief example.This site is specifically aimed at school use. The benefits that this has include being able to set up separate accounts for your pupils without them needing an email address. This site is not as simple as some of the others to navigate, however, I still think its positive functions overcome its occasionally complicated navigation options.
- You will need an email address to set up your blog. If you do not have one www.hotmail.com can provide an email address for you.
- Show the class some examples of blogs. Here are some good ones:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6130000/newsid_6131300/6131338.stm This is a Newsround page that reports of a blog set up by a girl with cancer. There is a link to her blog from the Newsround page.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsround/ This is BBC Newsrounds blog.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/presenters/ This is a page that contains links to the Blue Peter presenter’s blogs.
http://www.hereandtherejapan.org/ This is a site aimed at children detailing life in Japan.
This is an example of a fictional blog written by a known fictional character: http://darthside.blogspot.com/
http://www.sankey.ca/caesar/ blog has now stopped, however, it is a good example of a fictional character blog. It uses appropriate language of the time and genre.
This link is part of Penguin’s “We tell Stories” project. Six classic stories are retold using digital media over six weeks. This is inspiring to read. The specific link is a fictional blog. The content is not suitable for primary age children, however, it does exemplify the genre very well. http://wetellstories.co.uk/stories/week2/
