Blogs, Vlogs, Podcasts, and Web Feeds
Blogs are web logs that arrange postings (i.e., text, graphics, audio, video entries) in reverse chronological order. Generally a single author or team of authors post messages and encourage people to add comments. Blogs are a one-to-many type of communication space. They’re a great place to journal, log ideas, and gather reactions.
Over the past several year, personal and collaborative broadcasting has exploded in popularity. Just a few years ago, blogs were predominately a text-based media. Today, blogging has expanding to include audio and video content. Many phrases have been created based on the word blog. For example, a mobile blog is called a moblog and involves using your smart cell phone for taking photos, recording text entries, and uploading to web space. A blog highlighting photographs is called photoblog.
Beyond the Text Blog
When you combine the visual aspects of scrapbooking with the power of commenting in blogs, you get a ScrapBlog! Although you could probably use any blogging software to share your visuals, the great thing about ScrapBlog is that it uses free online software for making the scrapbook pages. This free resource is very new, so it's a good idea to print your scrapblog in case anything happens to the website in the future. Explore some examples: Annette and Larry's Scrapbook, Escrapbooking Ideas.
Project Example. Create a ScrapBlog for a book. Include photographs and other visuals that represent how you visualize the book. If they were going to create a movie based on this book, what locations, costumes, actors, and other information would you "pitch" to a potential movie producer? Then, ask your peers if they agree or disagree with your choices? What would they recommend?
Check out the blog lingo.
Access & Getting Started
Blogs
- A Really Different Place
- Duck Diaries
- High School History Student Blogs
- Mabry Middle School Library Blog and Washington Middle School Library, Seattle
- Mexico and Me 3 - produced by young people outside school setting
- Mr. Kuropatwa's Classes (Applied Math 40S - W07 , PreCalc 20S - F06, PreCalc 30S - F06, PreCal 40S - F06, W06, W07, APCalc AB - W07, Calc 45S - S06)
- Poetry 180: A Poem a Day for American High School - RSS feed
- The Reading Room
- Ron Hirschi Visits Eastview Elementary
- Sandaig Primary Schools - examples of many different types of blogs.
- The Secret Life of Bees
- UThink - Blogs at the Universities Libraries at the University of Minnesota
Multimedia Blogs - Podcasts to Vodcasts
- Bobby Bucket Show! Bucket of Books! - a podcast for kids, parents, and readers of all ages
- Conners Emerson School - notice their podcasts at the bottom of the right column under the current events
- Earth and Sky for Kids
- Grandview Library Blog
- High School Biology Blog with podcast
- Mrs. Bradley and Mrs. Mendoza's Class - text, audio, and video blog
- Radio Willow - Colonial Days - K-5 podcasts
- Room 208 - notice the student and teacher produced text, graphics, photos, videos, and audio.
- TechTime with Mr.S - check out the library book talk podcast
Explore examples of blogs, podcasts, and vodcasts. If you want to see more, go to Blogs and Blogging.
Background Skills and Issues
Information Skills
What advice would you give to student bloggers? Create a list of guidelines for evaluating student postings or comments to a blog. What makes a quality student posting? Why? How do the expectations change as students mature as bloggers? For ideas, go to Guidance and Assessment.
Tools
- Websites: Blogger, Edublogs, Class Blogmeister, Gaggle (subscription), Epals (subscription)
- Server Software: Word Press (open source)
Use a service such as Blogger or Edublogs to create your own blog!
Content Area Applications, Assignments, Assessments
Go to eduscapes bloglines. Select a web feed you think might be useful. How could this web feed be used in teaching and learning? Choose one of the key words from Blogging: Blog in Teaching and Learning.
Go to Blog Posting Starters. Explore ways to kick off blog discussion. Design a blog starter.
Go to Learning Blogs - The Activities. Explore the options. Design a blog-based activity you could do with students.
Go to Learning Blogs - The Approaches. Explore the approaches you can take to blogging with young people.
Learn more at Escrapbooking: Blogging or High Tech Learning: Blogging.
Find award winning educational blogs at The Edublog Awards.