Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ONLINE ASSIGNMENT II
ASWATHY B.K
ENGLISH
11
EDUCATIONAL BLOGS
BLOGS
A blog is frequently updated online personal journal or diary. It is a place to express
yourself to the world. That means it is a place to share your thoughts and your passions. For our
purposes we will say that a blog is your own website that you are going to update on an ongoing
basis. Blog is a short form for the word weblog and the two words are used interchangeably.
Weblogs are personal web pages written in chronological order and maintained through a
specific software that helps their administration. From an educational point of view weblogs are
the development of traditional learning logs for students and teachers, whether as a complement
to traditional lectures or as a e-lg tool. The importance of these applications has increased due to
the changes in the classrooms dynamics. There are many uses for weblogs in many fields. Lets
analyze what is an educational blog.
EDUCATIONAL BLOGS
An educational blog or edublog is a blog created for educational purposes. Edublogs
archive and support student and teacher learning by facilitating reflection, questioning by self
and others, collaboration and by providing context for engaging in higher order thinking.
Edublogs proliferated when blogging architecture became more simplified and teachers
perceived the instructional potential of blogs as an online resource. The use of blogs has become
popular in educational institutions including public schools and colleges.
Blogs can be useful tools for sharing information and tips among co-workers, providing
information for students, or keeping in contact with parents. Common examples include blogs
written by or for teachers, blogs maintained for the purpose of classroom instruction, or blogs
written by educational policy. Educators whose bolgs are sometimes called edubloggers.
HISTORY
Weblogs have existed for close to two decades. However it was not until the second half
of the 1990s that weblogs began to grow in popularity. In 1998, there were just a handful of sites
of the type that are now identified as weblogs (so named by James Barger in December 1997). In
1999, there were 23 known weblogs and Pitas http:// www.pitas.com/ , the first free build your
own weblog tool was launched. Also in 1999, weblogs changed from a mix of links, commentary
and thoughts to short for journal entries. An early recorded use of the term edublog can be
traced to a webring called the Edublog WebRing, founded on January 30, 2002. The new use of
weblogs are largely interest driven and attract readers who have similar interests. In 2004, there
were an estimated 3 million blogs and as of July, there are an estimated 164 million blogs.
The Edublog Awards, the international and community based awards program for the use
of blogs and social media to support education , runs annually online across a range of platforms.
The Awards were founded by James N .Farmer in 2004.
USES OF BLOGS
There are several uses of edublogs. Some bloggers use their blogs as a learning journal or
a knowledge log to gather relevant information and ideas and communicate with other people.
Some teachers use blogs to keep in contact with students parents. Some bloggers use blogs to
record their own personal life, and express emotions or feelings. Some instructors use blogs as an
instructional and assessment tool and blogs can be used as a task management tool. Blogs are
used to teach individuals about writing for an audience as they can be made public, and blogging
software makes it easier to create content for the web without knowing much HTML.
TEACHER BLOGS
There are many teacher related blogs on the internet where teachers can share
information with one another. Teachers familiarize themselves with edublogs before
implementing them with their students. Many teachers share materials and ideas to meet the
diverse needs of all learners in their classrooms. Teachers can often rely on these sources to
communicate with one another regarding any issues in education that they may be having,
including classroom management techniques and policies. In this way, the blog often act as a
support system for teachers where they can access ideas, tools and gain support and recognition
from other professionals in their field. weblogs can provide a forum for reading, writing and
collaborating.
Edublogs can be used as instructional resources, in which teachers can post tips, samples
or explanations to help students learning. The use of blogs in the classroom allows both the
teacher and students the ability to edit and add content at any time. The ability for both the
teacher and student to edit content allows for study to take place outside the classroom
environment, since blogs can usually be accessed by using the URL of the blog on any computer.
Blogs increase exposure to other students from around the country or world, while improving
writing and communication skills. Teachers are using blogs as a way to post important
information such as homework, important dates, missed lessons, projects, discussion boards and
other useful classroom information that is accessible by all. As noted, students can access
information form home or form any computer that is connected to the internet.
Teachers and parents use blogs in order to communicate with one another. They can be
used to post class announcements for parents or providing schedule reminders. Connecting to a
teachers blog is also a convenient way for parents to find out daily assignments so that they can
monitor their childrens progress and understand classroom expectations.
Some researchers claim that student blogs promote learning by proving opportunities for
students to take more control of their learning and the content they engage. It is also claimed that
student blogging intrinsically motivates students to become better readers and writers.
NOTABLE EDUBLOGGERS
Stephen Downes
James N. Farmer
Will Richardson
George Siemens
If you are a teacher, student, parent, or administrator, you should be following education blogs.
Why? Simply because blogs are an ever-increasing way to spark ideas, creativity, and
innovation. The following list is a compilation of blogs for those interested in education.
Written by parents, administrators, businessmen, teachers, and administrators, these blogs stand
out with their unique style and excellent content.
1. Cathy Nelson
Cathy Nelsons blog is for educators and library media specialists who are interested in
technology integration in the classroom. She offers help, resources, and ideas from her own
personal experience. She won the Edu Blog award in 2007 and 2008.
3. Principals Page
A blog centered on school administration issues. In addition to personal anecdotes, tips, and
education philosophy, he writes various articles for other websites that you can find on his site.
Examples of his work include The Connection between Teachers and Smart phones, and how
Social Media Connects Educators.
5. Learning Is Messy
Brian Crosby is the author of this blog and a teacher who specializes in at risk students. He
shares his ideas for learning in a personal style and encourages other teachers to understand that
sometimes learning isnt linear.
A fun and whimsical education site for teachers who need to add some color and creativity into
their classroom. Her site is in the style of Dr. Seuss.
9. Educational Advancement
This blog is part of a larger website that is dedicated to helping gifted youth. It focuses on news,
information, and other resources for parents and teachers of talented children.
Traditional College
13. ProfHacker
A blog dedicated to helping educators with their productivity, technology integration, as well as
teaching. The latest post is an interesting entry about professionalism on social media, an
increasing problem that has only been introduced since the explosion of sites like Face book and
Twitter.
17. NextStepU
This blog is associated with the NextStepU magazine. It offers advice about various colleges and
degrees, and offers giveaways from time to time. It also has tools like scholarship search and
college match.
18. Chegg
This blog is attached to the Chegg website; a student services site for planning and study help.
The blog gives advice about finding inexpensive textbooks, study habits, and scholarships. Be
sure to check out the post, What Does Your Major Say About You
The author of this blog is Bev Taylor, a well-known counselor who is frequently seen on media
sites, giving tips about getting into Ivy League schools. Her blog centers on helping students gain
entrance into the school of their dream. She also offers herself for hire!
20. Stratedgy
The Stratedgy blog is meant for educators who want to discuss ways to compete in an everexpanding world of education options.
Wesley Fryer is a keynote speaker and author who own this blog. He explores topics like digital
storytelling, creativity and technology integration in education. Many of his presentations,
handouts, and other materials are available to read and download
Beth Knittle is a technology integration specialist for a K-12 district and blogs about her learning
experiences. She has presented at several major education conferences like MassCUE and
EduCon. She has an attached Wiki and a scrupulously organized archive page.
This blog covers all things technology and education. The author is Jeff Utecht, an educator,
consultant, and author. Some of his top tweeted posts are 10 Reasons to Trash Word and Use
Google Docs, Gmail Tips for Teachers, and Lecture as Content Delivery is Dead.
Cammy Beans Learning Visions blog is about e-learning design. She hosts webinars about the
best ways to effectively design e-courses, tools to use, and how to get started.
A blog written by Dr. Scott Mcleod that focuses on the problem between exploding technology
and the educational system that cannot keep up. Rather than integrating technology into a
classroom that is outdated and behind, he offers solutions to these incongruities.
Education Policies
39. Eduwonk
Sponsored by Bethwether Education Partners, this blog is about education policy and politics.
The primary author, Andrew J. Rotherham, served as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton,
and currently writes the weekly School of Thought column for Time magazine.
41. Edwize
Edwize is a blog for education news and opinion. It focuses on New York schools, teachers, and
issues. Be sure to check out the section called New Teacher Diaries- real life stories from New
Yorks new public school teachers.
This blogs tagline is, Debating the future of American education. Expect to read posts about
politics, testing problems, and other issues plaguing the current educational system.
43. Edspresso
Edspressos clever name highlights the focus of this blog- a daily morning shot of the latest
education news and reform. It covers headlines and politics as it relates to education and is
updated frequently.
Stories from School was labeled as one of the best educational blogs of 2010. It focuses on real
life examples and stories of teachers and how they are impacted by the latest educational policy
changes.
Learning Techniques
50. 2 Worth
David Warlick cleverly writes his 2 cents worth of education strategy, measuring success, and
how to learn. He admits that often his posts spark more questions than answers.