Blogs are a wonderful way to publish information and provide commentary on topics important to us. This week’s featured websites are two blogs authored by some of our peers here in the district. The first is the Bulldog Readers blog authored by our librarians for the Virginia Reader’s Book Club. Be sure to check out the student comments on each of the books. The second is the BRMS Blog done by their ITRT, Frances G. The BRMS Blog has some wonderfully detailed information about technology in education.

In addition, a number of our teachers are using blogs more and more through the SchoolFusion AfterClass suite of tools. To check out any of these blogs, go to our school webpage and then check out the Teacher Profiles under For Students & Parents. The teacher’s blogs are linked to their profiles. The entries and commentary from our World Languages classes are especially neat!

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project which keeps track of online trends and usage, almost 90% of all teens are online. Of them, 64% are creating their own online content.

That means that about half of the students in your classes are posting pictures and videos as well as writing for fun on the Internet.

Given our district’s initiative to raise our SAT scores, I can’t help but wonder how we could use Web 2.0 tools to help us in that endeavor. If kids are already online writing on their own, and writing helps improve literacy, what can we do to harness this for school?

There are lots of Web 2.0 tools that incorporate writing and blogging is one such tool. Blogs are very easy to set up and use. Here is a video from Commoncraft that explains blogging “in plain English”.

If you are interested in setting up a class blog, contact your friendly ITRT!

Download Video: Posted by cputnam809 at TeacherTube.com.

This week’s featured website is Students 2.0. It is an edublog (blogs that only deal with topics relating to education) written and published entirely by students from all around the globe where they express their views about education today. It’s pretty impressive and thought-provoking. Some of what they say may make you squirm in your seat a bit, but the posts are thoughtful and well-written. Be sure to check out the information under the About tab to learn more about their mission.

Check out the finalists for the 2007 Edublog Awards!

Today we have a whole list of featured websites–just slide your eyes a bit to the right and down and check out the Blogroll! Every blog has a listing of other blogs the author likes to read.  Therefore, if you like what you are reading here, chances are you’ll like what you find in the Blogroll. Although I read them all, my current favorites are Warlick’s 2 Cents Worth, McLeod’s Dangerously Irrelevant, Fisch’s The Fischbowl, and Gate’s Tipline. These blogs are much better written, much better researched, and way more interesting than mine. While my blogroll reflects my interest in technology and education, but there are over 50 million blogs out there on every subject. To find one on a subject of your choice, just google it!

Today’s featured website is our very own Technology Times. I know from chatting with a lot of you that you are reading this blog and that you seem to be finding it useful, but a blog is a Web 2.0 tool, and Web 2.0 tools are meant to be interactive. Web 2.0 is about collaboration and sharing. 

With that in mind, I want to hear from you! Post a comment to any blog entry between today and next Wednesday, September 26, and your name will be entered into a drawing to win a 1 gigabyte thumb drive. As we tell our students, meaningful responses are preferred, but for this exercise even just a friendly “hello” is fine.

And no, multiple comments do not mean multiple entries of your name into the drawing. Sorry.

So, are you up to the challenge? Can you figure out how to make your voice heard in this Web 2.0 metaverse?

(This contest is only for staff at CD Hylton High School)

The other day when I was driving my two year old home from daycare he started chanting “blog, blog, blog, blog, blog” over, and over, and over, again. So, what is this “blog” stuff, besides a word used to annoy a normally loving mother after a long day at work?

The word “blog” comes from “web log” and blogs started out as online journals for folks to record the sometimes mundane, sometimes kooky, happenings in their lives. The  word “blog” is used as both a noun, as in “I can’t believe what you posted in your blog!”, and a verb, as in “I blog, therefore I am”. Today, there are blogs on virtually every topic under the sun and the Blog Herald estimates that as of May, 2007, there were approximately 60 million blogs online.

Blogs are pretty easy to set up and maintain (this one is hosted by Edublogs, which is not blocked by the county), and you might be interested in trying out blogging for your classes. Here are some ideas on how they might be used: 

1. Host Online Discussions — All blogs come with the ability to comment on the content of the blog. Because of this, they make nice discussion forums. The comments can usually be moderated and/or restricted to only those you want to participate. (You can do this type of activity with SchoolFusion’s Message Board feature, too)

2. Share Professional Resources — We are all members of one Professional Learning Community or another. Blogs are a place where we can come together and share ideas and resources.

3. Create a Class Publication — Our Journalism class is already looking into this, but what a cool idea for a class or group project. Blogs can be set up as “stand-alone” webpages on any topic of your choosing.

Here’s a nice video on the subject:

Download Video: Posted by rachelboyd at TeacherTube.com.

These are just a few ideas. If you are interested in trying blogging out, contact your friendly ITRT!