Your Web 2.0 Review Series #1: Blogging Software and Services - Classroom 2.02024-03-28T19:20:37Zhttps://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/649749:Topic:45465?commentId=649749%3AComment%3A45713&feed=yes&xn_auth=noHello Linda,
I am doing rese…tag:www.classroom20.com,2009-02-01:649749:Comment:2808512009-02-01T05:59:02.063ZLynne Baileyhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/lynnemb
Hello Linda,<br />
<br />
I am doing research for graduate school on blogging in the classroom and was intrigued by your comment about blogging preferences. It would appear that you did a survey. Did your survey ask for any other information about classroom blogging, and if so, would you be willing to share the survey results?<br />
<br />
Thanks for your time.
Hello Linda,<br />
<br />
I am doing research for graduate school on blogging in the classroom and was intrigued by your comment about blogging preferences. It would appear that you did a survey. Did your survey ask for any other information about classroom blogging, and if so, would you be willing to share the survey results?<br />
<br />
Thanks for your time. Are you using the hosted vers…tag:www.classroom20.com,2007-11-16:649749:Comment:763662007-11-16T04:02:19.748ZLynne Baileyhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/lynnemb
Are you using the hosted version of Wordpress, or are using wordpress on your own server?
Are you using the hosted version of Wordpress, or are using wordpress on your own server? I think I'm the first person…tag:www.classroom20.com,2007-10-25:649749:Comment:659102007-10-25T04:22:22.046ZKonrad Glogowskihttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/teachandlearn
I think I'm the first person in this thread to mention <a href="http://21classes.com/">21classes</a>. I've been using this service for a while now and find it extremely easy to use and also highly modifiable - which, I believe, is very important when we use blogs to create a community of learners. What I disliked about edublogs was that WordPress MU upon which it is built, does not allow users to modify their templates. I have to admit that the selection of templates for WordPress is excellent,…
I think I'm the first person in this thread to mention <a href="http://21classes.com/">21classes</a>. I've been using this service for a while now and find it extremely easy to use and also highly modifiable - which, I believe, is very important when we use blogs to create a community of learners. What I disliked about edublogs was that WordPress MU upon which it is built, does not allow users to modify their templates. I have to admit that the selection of templates for WordPress is excellent, but I wanted my students to be able to make their spaces uniquely their own. I wanted to give them an opportunity to design their own headers and backgrounds. I believe that this kind of functionality helps build a community and a sense of ownership. You can read about my experiences <a href="http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/2007/07/19/21classes-and-personalized-spaces/">here</a>.<br />
<br />
21classes also provides one main portal page that aggregates all the content and lists all student blogs. I like this functionality because it helps students see that we are a community of learners. It helps them see our virtual community as something almost tangible. They can see all the recent comments and entries on the main page and use it as their point of entry into our community because the page also has a log-in window. So, even before they log in, they can get a quick glimpse into what's been happening in the community during their absence. I find that this contributes tremendously to community-building.<br />
<br />
The platform also offers a built-in aggregator and tagging.<br />
<br />
In short, it really is a great service with an amazing tech support. I highly recommend it. Susan -- Thanks for this bit…tag:www.classroom20.com,2007-09-03:649749:Comment:466992007-09-03T21:02:41.368ZDonna Heberthttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/whatsit81
Susan -- Thanks for this bit of blogger technical advice!
Susan -- Thanks for this bit of blogger technical advice! My co-teacher and I really li…tag:www.classroom20.com,2007-09-03:649749:Comment:466722007-09-03T18:25:53.871ZChristine Southardhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/ChristineSouthard
My co-teacher and I really like classblogmeister.com. We're beginning our 2nd year with the application. You are correct, that the layouts and background choices are limited, but we've found that too many choices can distract our students. Plus, our students are fifth graders. For most of them, this is an introduction to blogging, netiquette and social networking (sort of). We like the fact that the program is not overwhelming and with our combined e-mail address alert, one of us is always…
My co-teacher and I really like classblogmeister.com. We're beginning our 2nd year with the application. You are correct, that the layouts and background choices are limited, but we've found that too many choices can distract our students. Plus, our students are fifth graders. For most of them, this is an introduction to blogging, netiquette and social networking (sort of). We like the fact that the program is not overwhelming and with our combined e-mail address alert, one of us is always available to approve student blogs when we're not at school. We're trying to use WordPress…tag:www.classroom20.com,2007-09-03:649749:Comment:466632007-09-03T18:02:33.318ZDean Mattsonhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/DeanMa
We're trying to use <a href="http://mu.wordpress.org/">WordPress MU</a> for our student blogs. It's taken some time to set everything up and we've had to rely on plugins to bend it so it would acceptable to address those ever-present safety concerns and allow students to customize their blogs to a certain extent.<br />
<br />
Why go to that trouble? First the blogs look good. Right now we have over 50 themes for the students to chose from and they can pick which friends they want to link to.<br />
<br />
Finally…
We're trying to use <a href="http://mu.wordpress.org/">WordPress MU</a> for our student blogs. It's taken some time to set everything up and we've had to rely on plugins to bend it so it would acceptable to address those ever-present safety concerns and allow students to customize their blogs to a certain extent.<br />
<br />
Why go to that trouble? First the blogs look good. Right now we have over 50 themes for the students to chose from and they can pick which friends they want to link to.<br />
<br />
Finally because you have all those plug-ins available, you can get it to do just about everything you want. I think once we got it going, it'll be worth it, but it does take time and you need access to a webserver. Nancy, they had a very slow p…tag:www.classroom20.com,2007-09-02:649749:Comment:463122007-09-02T11:32:16.671ZAlice Mercerhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/mizmercer
Nancy, they had a very slow patch due to server problems around May and June. They migrated servers, and since then it's been pretty good for me.<br />
<br />
James Farmer is promising "groups" in the near future, so we'll have to see what that looks like.
Nancy, they had a very slow patch due to server problems around May and June. They migrated servers, and since then it's been pretty good for me.<br />
<br />
James Farmer is promising "groups" in the near future, so we'll have to see what that looks like. Alice--I got a blog site so I…tag:www.classroom20.com,2007-08-31:649749:Comment:459202007-08-31T23:54:12.809ZNancy Boschhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/nbosch
Alice--I got a blog site so I'm not shopping but a comment and question. Comment: Blogmeister is ugly (from my POV) David is waaaaay toooo busy flying from here to there. Question: Do you find Edublogs slow? When reading blogs, I notice that it seems slow to load.
Alice--I got a blog site so I'm not shopping but a comment and question. Comment: Blogmeister is ugly (from my POV) David is waaaaay toooo busy flying from here to there. Question: Do you find Edublogs slow? When reading blogs, I notice that it seems slow to load. My blogging system of choice…tag:www.classroom20.com,2007-08-31:649749:Comment:458252007-08-31T12:56:40.390ZShane Grundyhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/sgrundy
My blogging system of choice is wordpress - <a href="http://wordpress.org">http://wordpress.org</a>. It's the system that Edublogs is based on. You can use it for free either on Edublogs or Wordpress.com - but I prefer us download the free program, and host it on my own server. Why? Total control and flexiblity. Granted, hosting your own isn't for the weak of heart. You do need to set up a MySQL data base, and know how to use an FTP program - but after that - it runs itself (and setting up the…
My blogging system of choice is wordpress - <a href="http://wordpress.org">http://wordpress.org</a>. It's the system that Edublogs is based on. You can use it for free either on Edublogs or Wordpress.com - but I prefer us download the free program, and host it on my own server. Why? Total control and flexiblity. Granted, hosting your own isn't for the weak of heart. You do need to set up a MySQL data base, and know how to use an FTP program - but after that - it runs itself (and setting up the data base isn't as hard as it sounds... honest!)<br />
The features I love is that it allows multiple users, so each student can have a personal log-in, each with different access levels. I can decide who leaves comments, and who cant. It has an intergrated ftp program and automatic thumbnailing for those who wish to add pictures. The WYSIWYG editor and spell check are also great. Add the that the ablity to make static pages along with the dynamic ones, AND be able to configure them in any way you want (so if you want your link page to look different then the rest of your blog, you can... provided you can program html and css).<br />
But the major draw to hosting your own wordpress - the plugins. These mini programs allow you to do just about anything with your blog - and there are so many to choose from! Add flickr intergration, automatic backups that can be e-mailed to you, or my personal favourite an embedded mp3 player, that automatically detects podcasts, and allows people to listen to them directly from your site (like on this <a href="http://archive.theclassroom.ca/room22/2006/10/15/radio-meyo-is-back-on-the-air/">archived version</a> of my old class site - sorry, not everything transfered well)<br />
As for the pros and cons (and I've tried many) I personally like feature/option right systems. I've created a list of some of the most popular blogging systems (and some not so popular) and <a href="http://theclassroom.ca/resources/blogging-tables">created a list</a> - hopefully it helps you. Oh it's EASY! Especially with…tag:www.classroom20.com,2007-08-31:649749:Comment:458232007-08-31T12:32:36.340ZShane Grundyhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/sgrundy
Oh it's EASY! Especially with Wordpress 2.1 or greater. It won't import your template, but all the rest of your data...
Oh it's EASY! Especially with Wordpress 2.1 or greater. It won't import your template, but all the rest of your data...