Well, Lee over at Common Craft can explain it much better than we can. (Incidentally, you'll notice we'll be using a lot of Common Craft's videos...they are simple and to the point.)
Well, there you have it. Blogs in Plain English.
There are a number of free blog-hosting services out there, but we recommend either Blogger or Wordpress. The blog you're reading now was built in Blogger, a Google product. Both offer easy to use interfaces and comparable options. Because we will be using lots of Google products in future challenges, Blogger may be the better choice for our purposes.
Our Challenge to You:
- Choose either Blogger or Wordpress and follow the steps to set up your own personal blog. Remember to write down your username and password!
- To keep you honest and to share your experiences with others, send your new blog URL to Kurt or Kelly's school email address, and we'll add you to the Blogroll on the right. Your blog URL is the unique Web address of your blog. This URL is how you will find your blog or tell others how to find it. Remember that your blog title and URL are available for the world to see. (Take that however you'd like.)
- Whenever you complete a challenge, blog about it. To help us follow your progress, title your posts "Challenge #1" and so on. But feel free to blog about anything that floats your boat in between challenges. That's what blogs are for!
- Read and comment on your colleagues' posts. (Remember, they're all available over there in the Blogroll.) Interacting with materials and others is what makes blogs a Web 2.0 tool.
- How easy or difficult was this challenge for you? Describe and successes or roadblocks you may have encountered.
- Is this a tool you can see yourself continuing to use? Why or why not?
- How can this tool be useful in the classroom or for education?
- How can this tool be useful in your personal life?
Take It a Step Further: (Optional)
- Explore the features available in your blog. Consider adding a blogroll of you favorite blogs, or perhaps a list of links you find useful. Play around with adding images, videos, or gadgets.
- Create an avatar and export it to your blog.
- If you are interested in using blogs with your classes, there are free blog-hosting services that allow you to administer blog posts/comments by your students, such as Weebly Education, KidBlog and 21 Classes.
- Check out Technorati -- a blog search engine.
Links to School Blogs - by Support Blogging
Educational Blogging - by Stephen Downes
Top 100 Education Blogs - by Online Education Database
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