Kidblog.org

This is one of my favourite explorations in this inquiry.  I had been wanting to get my students blogging for quite some time but just hadn't dedicated the time to set it up or plan for its use.  I have also enjoyed demonstrating my own learning via a blog so I liked the idea of beginning the process of going paperless with my senior students in English 12.  In Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms, Will Richardson (2010) says the best way to understand the potential for blogs as a teaching and learning tool is to become a blogger.  I began blogging for my course work in the fall of 2010 and then added a blog for my classes shortly after.  I had tried a personal blog but I have never been much of a diary/journal writer, so this quickly was forgotten.  The course blogs and blog for my classes however, were a huge epiphany for me.  I could not believe how they changed my learning and teaching.

In the blog for my classes I was able to keep students updated on what was happening in the class, provide PDFs of assignments and handouts, and also communicate with parents and others who may be interested in what is going on in my classes.  The biggest thing I realized was how much time my blog actually saved me.  It literally takes me 5 minutes each day to update the blog, but I no longer have to send homework to the office for absent students, photocopy missing worksheets, send emails to parents about what we are doing in class, or spend time in class filling absent students in on our class learning.  This information is all available on the blog!  I knew I wanted to have my students use this tool, and this inquiry made it possible to stop procrastinating.

I chose Kidblog.org, as I said in my inquiry proposal, because a friend was using it with much success.  As I have stated in my updates, I was confused as to why this site says it is perfect for elementary and middle school students.  I believe now that the reason for this is because the site creators do not think there is as much need for student safety concerns with teenagers, as there may be with younger students.

The best thing about this tool is how easy it was to set up.  I don't think it even took me a half hour to set up all my students in 2 classes.  Kidblog.org was created by someone with computer programming and classroom teaching experience, and it does seem that they understand the needs of classroom teachers. (Kidblog.org, 2011)  I was further pleased when I found that Kidblog.org was ranked as one of the top 25 sites of 2010 by Technology & Learning magazine. (Kapular, 2011)  For these reasons, I did not seriously explore another option for my student blogging.  I do use Blogger, obviously for this blog, and I use WordPress for my class blog so I feel I already know the ins and outs of those platforms.  I like that Kidblog.org works in a very similar fashion but that I was able to set up all the blogs for my students so they were ready to go without having to do any set up.

The home page for Kidblog.org is not cluttered or intimidating.

Once I signed up, it was easy to create my classes.  I appreciated that I did not have to provide an overwhelming amount of personal information, nor did I have to provide any information about my students other than a user name and password.  I chose to use my students' real names and assigned them passwords myself, which seems to have worked well.  My husband did this with his grade 6 class and chose to only use his students' first names, which seems to be common in elementary school blogging.

For "Role" the options include: student, administrator, teacher, moderator, guest.  This means that I can include people who can only observe the blog posts but not post themselves.  This would be great to include parents or a guest, like an author or colleague.

Once my classes were set up I had a separate "Home Page" for each class.  I was worried this would be inconvenient but I can easily navigate between the two classes via a drop down menu at the top of the page.

From this "Dashboard" I can easily see recent posts, recent comments, and navigate to settings or the actual class blogs.

My "Home Page" for each class contains a list of all the student blogs and their recent posts.  Each student or visitor to the site can also see this home page if they were to go to www.kidblog.org/English12C.  The difference between what my students and I see, and what a visitor sees occurs when they try to go to one of the blogs or read a post.

The titles of the posts are visible, but their content is not.  I chose to use this protected setting for my first trial of Kidblog.org but I can easily make the class blogs public by adjusting the settings on my dashboard.  I can also choose whether the classes can see each others' posts or if they can only see the posts of students in their actual class.  For this inquiry I kept the settings pretty tight but the students really wanted to read the posts from the opposite block so I may adjust this as we begin our discussions of The Crucible.  When blogging first became popular many schools feared for the safety of their students, as discussed by Barack (2005) in Schools Lower the Boom on Blogs.  Barack (2005) points out that student don't necessarily understand that data posted online can remain there, and could come back to "haunt" a student when applying for jobs. (Barack, 2005) Because I did not have to provide any information about the students and I could keep the class blogs private, I did not have to follow many of the safety tips suggested in Choosing Web 2.0 tools for Learning and Teaching... (Berger & Trexler, 2010, p. 175) However, if I move forward with using class blogs more intensely next year, I will provide information to parents via my course outline, and give them the option of being able to see what their child posts.  I have an incredibly responsible group of grade 12 students this year and was not concerned about inappropriate comments on their classmates' blogs.  There were a few of them who tried to be funny after our first posts, but when they realized they could not be anonymous they stayed focused on the discussion topics.

I was very impressed at how quickly the students adapted to blogging.  They seemed to really like the medium and I love that they were not afraid to experiment with the tools.  Many of them changed the colours of their fonts and few even added links and images.  Seeing the empty "Tag" boxes reminds me that I need to introduce the concept of tags and then include that in their future posts.

My blog looks the same as the students'.  I decided to also use this blog as a place to showcase some student work from a visual assignment so that those students could still have their work "posted on the wall."  It was exciting to see a couple of students use Prezi for their Visual Found Poems.

For the final writing assignment of our Kite Runner unit, I considered having them do their writing on their blogs.  I decided against this as I did not want them to be able to see each other's work.  The more casual reflective writing does not attract much attention to weaker students, but my fear was that with more formal writing expectations, the differences between the students would be magnified.  I cannot make certain blog posts visible to just me, and others visible to everyone.  Richtel (2012), in Term Paper Blogging, has me reconsidering this formal write I did at the end of the unit.  If, as I hope to do next year, student blogging becomes our form of writing, sharing, commenting and discussing, perhaps I won't need the formal "term paper" style write I usually do.  My only fear is that most post-secondary programs still require students to write formal papers and I want my students to be prepared.  I have found that in the blogging I do for my Diploma in Ed. program, I still retain the formal style and citation, but feel more comfortable to add an anecdote or emoticon, that I may not add in a formal essay. :D

One final element I want to add is a link back to this post and article.  I like the positive tone and I feel I have accomplished these 6 things with my class blogging.

After having explored Kidblog.org, I cannot see changing to another web 2.0 tool for class blogs.  If I were to use Blogger or WordPress it would not be as simple to set up the class or to monitor the posts.  I also would not have the security features that Kidblog offers.  I like that I can have my class set up for September so that the students can get to work right away.  This has been a positive inquiry experience.

References:

Barack, L. (2005). Schools Lower the Boom on Blogs. School Library Journal, 51(12), 24.

Berger, P. & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing Web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a Digital World.
       Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited

Kapular, D. (2011). TOP 25 SITES OF 2010. Technology & Learning, 31(6), 16.

Kidblog.org (2011) About Kidblog. Retrieved from http://kidblog.org/about.php

Richtel, M. (2012, January 22). Term Paper Blogging. New York Times. p. 28.

Blogging About The Web 2.0 Connected Classroom: How Things Changed With @Evernote

Thanks (again) to Twitter, I have a new web 2.0 tool to check out. Like Steven Anderson, I have too many slips of paper, to-do lists and calendars going at one time. I am wondering if Evernote will offer a solution for me. One of the things I am realizing with all of these web 2.0 organizational tools is that some kind of mobile device (like an iPhone, hint, hint, Aaron Poulin) would really go a long way for me. Currently I 'only' have a cell phone for texting and phone calls. I can store notes and calendar details, but access to my online world would probably help in making a habit out of using tools like iGoogle, Evernote, or whatever other tools I learn about.

Blogging About The Web 2.0 Connected Classroom: How Things Changed With @Evernote

Principal's Blog

I just spent the last hour helping my principal set up her new blog.  Her vision for her blog is very similar to Neil Kamide's from McMath Secondary in Richmond.  She would like this to be a form of communication with our parents and community.  We talked quite a bit about the kinds of posts she should begin with and how to make blog posting a "habit" so that she will keep up with it.  I have encouraged her to post several short posts in the next couple of weeks just to get used to the platform.  I also said she should try posting a photo, adding more links, and play around with a couple of templates to see what she likes.

 You will notice that I am "following" her blog so that I will know when she posts.  I told her that I would be emailing her if I don't see regular posts.  She is very excited about this new venture, so I believe she will make it a priority.

I also think that this new step will encourage others on our staff to use more social media in their classes and lives.  I have already linked the principal's blog on our school web site so I am hoping that when she sees people are following and reading the blog (through the stats) she will be encouraged to keep it current.

Inquiry Project Proposal

I am excited to do this inquiry project as it is giving me an “excuse” to play with many Web 2.0 tools that I have wanted to explore.  I am a very hands-on learner and learn best by doing.  I am not afraid of technology – thanks in part to the “back” or “undo” buttons :) - but often I can get in a rut of resorting to the things I know best.  I have been an active blogger for educational reasons for a year and have begun to explore web site design and social media applications for use in my school.  I have also had to quickly learn the ins and outs of our school computers and server since I became the librarian at the start of the school year.  I consider myself an “intermediate” when it comes to this inquiry project.

I have created a Google calendar for this assignment and have posted it on my blog.  I plan to update my progress with this assignment once a week, although I hope to post quick “reaction” posts when I try something new.  I will update the calendar with specific “tasks” as I do them.

With this inquiry I hope to:

•  become comfortable enough with the tools I am exploring to use them regularly – or perhaps realize they are not suited to my needs but I will at least understand why

•  become a technology go-to person in my school and offer mentorship for those who are interested in trying similar tools

•  improve the learning environment and opportunities for my students by offering different experiences and options for their education

•  create a Personal Learning Network (PLN) where I can continue to grow as an educator

Web 2.0 Tools to explore:

•  Twitter  - I signed up for Twitter on January 8, 2012.  My good friend Maureen Parker, who is the Director of Curriculum in the Battle River School Division has been urging me for about a year but I was resistant.  I was not aware, nor convinced, of the educational value of this tool.  Already I am seeing I was wrong.  For my inquiry I plan to begin by learning about the workings of Twitter, including how to use hashtags, “twitter speak,” and other tools to make Twitter effective.  I am already “following” many interesting people on Twitter and I would like to expand and in some cases, edit that list.  By the end of my inquiry I hope to have a routine with regards to posting, reading and sharing.  At this point I see my Twitter learning being focused on personal professional use but I then hope I can explore how I might use this tool in the classroom and library.

•  Google Apps for Education – I was familiar with some of the Google apps like calendar and documents but I did not know there was a specific section directed at education.  I like the idea that by using these apps students and I will have access to our materials regardless of our computer operating system.  I also like that students can work on things collaboratively.  I plan to begin by taking part in the online training Google has available.  I am then hoping to make use of the apps in “real” situations – such as creating my timeline on a Google calendar for this project.

•  Kidblog.org (and possibly other sites for student blogs) – I have been thinking about student blogging for about a year but have struggled with finding the “easiest” way to go about it.  I was concerned that getting students to set up their own blogs and then monitoring that would become too complicated.  A friend who teaches elementary school is using Kidblog.org so I thought this would be a good place to start.  I am already impressed with how easy it was to set up and that I could create the pages for all my students so they are now ready to go.  I am going to start with this platform but as I do my inquiry I also want to explore other options and compare features.  My hope is to be partially paperless for my English 12 classes in the 2012/2013 school year so I feel this is a good time to experiment.  I also have two awesome classes this year that I know will be willing to “play” with this tool with and for me.  I hope to include some of their feedback on my inquiry blog as part of my demonstration of learning.

•  Poll/Survey tools – I have wanted to include surveys and polls on our school and library web site so I think this is the perfect opportunity to do so.  I hope to try several options and will begin with “free” services.   I think this will be a fun tool to try but I also want to make sure it isn’t “too much” in the sense that polls and surveys are ignored because they are happening all the time.  I would like to explore other school uses for this kind of polling and see what appears to be the most effective.

•  RSS and Blog Aggregators – There is a widget for RSS on my Wordpress class blog but I honestly did not know what it meant.  I thought it had something to do with following my blog on a handheld device like a cell phone.  This will be one inquiry item that I know nothing about before I begin.  (Although I do know now that RSS stand for Really Simple Syndication.)  I need to do some research on RSS and I plan to share my findings and understanding on my blog.  Hopefully, by the end of the inquiry, I will be using RSS.

•  iPad – As I mentioned in a current event discussion post, the previous librarian at my school purchased an iPad at the end of last year before he retired and it has been virtually unused since.  I want to learn more about the iPad personally and then explore educational use options.  I did find it very convenient the other day when I was dealing with a computer that wasn’t working.  I could search for help on the iPad while I was working on the desktop computer.  I plan to watch many of the user videos and even try reading a book on the iPad so that I can better understand how it works and how our students and/or staff can use this tool.  I will post my reflections and experiences on my blog as well as good and bad apps that I find.

•  Social networking mentorship – I was the first staff member at my school to begin using a blog as a teaching tool.  I began last year by creating a blog where students can find out what we did in class that day, get any handouts or presentations that were given, and also where I could share interesting visuals, books I am reading, and links to educational sites or information.  This has been an incredible time saver for me as I no longer have to send stuff to the office for absent students, and parents can see what is going on in class any time.  I presented this tool at a staff meeting last year and there are now several other staff members who have created class blogs for this purpose.  Others have also added Facebook pages and Twitter to supplement this communication tool.  I would like to continue this “mentoring” role by getting my principal more connected to the Web 2.0 world.  She approached me about helping her set up a blog and I would like to work  with her to make it a success.  I plan to help her have a vision for the blog, get her comfortable with the platform she chooses, and also provide prompts and reminders to post regularly.  She has a Twitter account but has not tweeted since it was set up.  (I suspect it was a District Administrators’ pro-d activity set up by Chris Wejr who is a principal in our district and a “mover and shaker” in the Web 2.0 world – but many of the administrators did not follow through after the initial introduction to Twitter.)  I will provide a link to her blog on my inquiry blog and also ask her to provide feedback about the process – maybe even as a “guest blog post” on my blog.