Build a Blog: 2011

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Type something quick for your first post...

I'm here (again) asking a room full of administrators these familiar questions:

What is a blog? A chat? It's personal opinion or commentary - an electronic diary.
What is the read/write web (or web 2.0)? Surprisingly, this means nothing to the people in the room... wait there's more: it could be a blog, a wiki, etc... anything where there is interaction online... social networking etc.
What might these things mean to you and your students? People can respond to opinions on blogs (for students in an academic context, for instance). Conversations go on outside of class... access to help and other resources...

So we've got something to start with. Here we go...

I'm now demoing editing a post. Cool.

This is awesomeness. 'Wish I had it in 2007. ;)

This is a demo for people who want to get started with blogging!

This will be a demo of key features. It's easy to add a link - like this one to my blog. It's also easy to add an image... like the one on the right.

I'm here with participants in the OCDE Administrator Training Program at National University... asking these three familiar questions:

What is a blog? A site where people post thoughts on any topic. A site for communicating with friends. A web-based log entry system - for anything. Tends to be topic based. Ability to comment. People can subscribe to it.
What is Web 2.0? Instead of one-way websites... sites are interactive. Create, edit, etc. Tools for publishing online (required by common core).
What might these technologies mean for you and your students? Students might experience (and understand) other points of view... students might participate online (but not in the classroom)... learning can be extended outside the classroom... global experience available... collaboration online - communities... access to different ways of expressing ideas (multi-media)... social construction of knowledge... kids will work harder for peer review...