Ok, everyone. You've been guided to a new pathway, a new strategy, a new tool for education. Where it leads is for you, and for all of us, to discover. Let's keep the dialogue alive on Shawna's blogsite for our school: http://staffdevelopmentblog.com

Blogging Overview

• Blogging is not new, but for most of us the idea of publishing our thoughts, ideas, and opinions on the internet is very new. It is no longer necessary for us to compose a piece, find an editor, a publisher, a distributor, and spend lots of money in order to "spread our word." All we have to do is log on to a blogging site, or create one of our own, and the world can hear (and see if we want them to) us. Hoorah! BUT blogging is not simply about publishing--it is about learning, interacting, informing and being informed, being involved and engaged with others (from near and far)--it is about being and becoming. Ok, enough of the "wired age" philosophy.
  
  
• What is a blog?-- A slang term meaning Web logs, it is basically a log or journal that is available on the Internet. It can be updated with daily postings using software that helps the user maintain the blog. Postings are typically arranged in chronological order with the most recent additions featured prominently.
  
  
• Check out the following blogging sites to see a miniscule sampling of information/conversation sites that are available:

1. http://conference.learningtech.net
2. http://bloglines.com/public/wrichard
3. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=3
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%25s
5. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486404277/ref=pd_qpt_gw_1/102-9359107-8320928?n=283155
6. http://securityawareness.blogspot.com
7. http://www.salon.com/?x
8. http://www.cyberjournalist.net/cyberjournalists.php

• Share with your neighbors some thoughts you have about these (and other) blogging sites. How might you use blogs to supplement and support what you are trying to teach in your classes?
  

• Many educators have been using this publishing tool in teaching settings for years. Below are links to several educational blogsites. Take a few minutes to explore them.

1. http://pacspeaceup.blogspot.com/
2. http://about.com/homework/
3. http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs
4. http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/
5. http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=22394
6. http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/
7. http://www.weblogg-ed.com/

• Again, share with your neighbors some of your questions and comments about these different sites.

• One of our roles as educators will be to model appropriate and responsible use of blogs, and of the internet in general. Young people are giving up much too much personal information about themselves on the internet. What are other significant ethical and pragmatic practices that we must learn and teach our students? Discuss in small groups and then we'll share together.
  
  
• Another important responsibility will be to establish concrete ways of assessing a student's blogging activity. What do you think might be practical ways of valuing their work? Discuss in small groups and then we'll share together.

NOW, we'd like to give you some time to create your own blogs, whether for classroom or personal use. So, we'll direct you to the START page and you can get a move on. Sign out above and then create your own identity and weblog site or sites.