Developing+Internal+Blogs+for+Student+Projects

WHAT EXACTLY IS A BLOG, ANYWAY? http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2006/05/what_exactly_is_a_blog_anyway.html
 * ||= Blog Basics ||  ||= [|KidBlog Matrix] ||   ||= [|Using KidBlog] ||   ||= Classroom Blogs ||   ||= Blogging Essentials  ||   ||

HOW TO USE BLOGS (IN THE CLASSROOM) http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=370

=Technology Standards for Students and Teachers=

Student use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
 * National Educational Technology Standards for Students:**
 * Strand 2: Communication and Collaboration:**

a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.

Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers: b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation. Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers:
 * National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers:**
 * Strand 3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning**
 * Strand 4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility**

a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentaion of sources. c. promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.


 * Overview of Course:**

Communication in the 21st Century digital world involves skills that transcend the traditional written word or spoken language. It also entails technical skills using Web 2.0 tools in a global venue. Students are becoming keenly aware, through social networking sites and various online community centers, how to use the tools that provide them a platform for communication.

Typically, school district network filter systems prevent the use of these tools in the classroom. These sites are difficult to monitor making it impossible to screen all content. The approach has been to ban all online communication (social networks, blogs, and email) for the safety and protection of the students. But how do students learn to communicate properly, responsibly, ethically, and meaningfully in the digital world in which they live? How can schools constructively use these tools in a safe and secure system?

Norwich Public Schools now has a platform to incorporate blogging into a secure and monitored environment. Through a networked server located at Teachers' Memorial Middle School, teachers can now use blogging tools to enhance lessons and provide students with opportunities for learning and communicating in digital environments. This tool is available for all teachers within the district, but cannot be accessed past the walls of our internal network.

This workshop will provide the overview of the blog - an online journal that is created by an author and solicits comments and contributions from the global society - and in this case - the Norwich Public Schools learning community. Students can create their own blogs and role-play famous individuals. Lesson examples, such as: historical blogs by famous individuals with comments from appropriate peers; persuasive pieces that promote interaction and encourage a discussion; or a future President of the United States outlining a political platform.

For the teacher, an extension activity that can provide additional CEUs after this workshop is the creation of a lesson plan to incorporate blogging in the individual teacher's classroom setting. Details for this option will be discussed in the workshop.


 * You will learn:**
 * The features of a blog - an online journal - and how teachers can incorporate this tool in classroom settings
 * Ways to monitor and techniques to follow in creating, managing, and expanding the blog
 * Ethical use of computer technology and promoting that use to others


 * Blogging Rubrics: **

http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/blogging+rubric.pdf http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/profdev/rubrics/blogrubric.html http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec296/assignments/blog_rubric.html https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ASE-WviNjA7KZGZzczRweF8yOWZjenR4c2Z3&hl=en http://www.charlesyoungs.com/images/Blogging--Rubric_to_a_Blog_Post.pdf []


 * BLOGGING RULES AND GUIDELINES: **

http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/teachers_guide/SNOnline.BloggingRules.pdf http://theedublogger.com/2010/01/11/week-2-set-up-your-blogging-rules-and-guidelines/ http://kidslearntoblog.com/ten-guidelines-to-improve-student-blogging/

http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/bloom%27s+Digital+taxonomy+v3.01.pdf