Blogs

//Post information, resources, and tips for disseminating research findings via blogs here.//

Blogs are a great way to reflect on your research (be sure to maintain confidentiality) and to share your findings. Here are some resources to get you started:

= = =What is a blog?=


 * **[|Userland: What is a weblog?] -** Simple page explains blogs and what they accomplish that Word and e-mail can't user:chericem1


 * **[|Harvard Weblogs: What makes a weblog a weblog?] -** A detailed explanation of weblogs that uses analogies & contrasts to explain the concept user:chericem1


 * **[|Blogs v. Wikis]** - A mashup that explores the affordances and constraints of blogs v. wikis through the political actions/stances of Kennedy v. Nixon user:chericem1


 * **[|7 Things You Should Know about Blogs]** - Brief from Educause re: the whats, whys, and hows of blogging, including downsides and implications for teaching and learning user:chericem1


 * **[|Kairo's News] -** An outstanding, step-by-step explanation of what blogs are, with fantastic links to articles, research, and examples of how blogging is being used at various levels of education user:chericem1

=Examples of Educational Blogs=


 * **[|Blogical Minds]** - This one is noteworthy because of the ways in which it connects 5th grade students to international blogging communities and engages them in thinking explicitly about multiple literacies and in playing with web 2.0 tools that can facilitate their development user:chericem1


 * **[|Bob Sprankle – Room 208 (Elementary)]** - Elementary educator who became well known in the blogging community for the ways he used blogs with his elementary students. You’ll see from the navigation bar on the left that he does a weekly podcast with them, posts a link each week to a new resource that parents and students can explore together, encourages each child to post on his or her own blog which is linked to his main class blog, and also posts some sample writing of his own user:chericem1


 * **[|Dealing With The Worst Consequences of Your Best Ideas - Practical Theory]** - Interesting post re: how one school used discussion forums to deal with inappropriate ways students were using the technology made available to them user:chericem1


 * **[|Developing Expert Voices]** - Blog that began as a rotating "daily scribe" project and eventually positioned students as teachers of complex mathematical concepts in ways that fostered the development of multiple literacies in the process user:chericem1


 * **[|Josh's School Blog]** - Super example of how English and Social Studies students are using blogs to post and comment on one another's writing. Note the scaffolding the teacher provides for the various assignments and be sure to check out the links on the sidebar user:chericem1


 * **[|One Sentence - True stories, told in one sentence]** - This would make a great writing assignment for students that could then be traded with a peer, who would then expand the story (with a twist, of course)! In world language classes, you could ask students to do these as a means of communicating norms or mores of the target culture. user:chericem1


 * **[|Primary 7v Class Blog]** - Super example of a blog that uses tons of web 2.0 apps (BubbleShare, etc.) to make it an interactive and appealing place to visit user:chericem1


 * **[|Rate my Mates]** - An example of how a blog could be used as a tool for self- & peer evaluation user:chericem1


 * **[|Room 208]** - Great example of how a teacher is using a whole class blog to encourage students' to engage with one another's work, to support literacy development, etc. user:chericem1


 * **[|Sixty Minute Artist]** - This blog demonstrates that reflective practice can be collected through blogging, and that blogging can become a form of teaching user:chericem1


 * **[|WFS 7th Grade English]** - Example of how a 7th grade English teacher is using a blog to manage handouts, homework, and to interact with students re: it user:chericem1


 * **[|Yesenia]** - Example of how a language arts teacher might have students use blogs to create online portfolios of work (freewrites, reflections, vocabulary, etc.)

=Examples of How K-12 Students Are Blogging to Transform Society=


 * **[|Peace Takes Courage] -** Blog by a 17-year-old homeschooler that gets over 60,000 hits per day. Her videos campaigning against the war in Iraq have gotten her invitations to major talk shows.


 * **[|Students 2.0] -** Incredibly interesting blogging project. Bloggers are individual high school students located in countries from around the globe. Promo for the blog states, “We won’t be raising our hands anymore.” Unfortunately, the original post no longer appears to be available online, but there are snippets on various blogs: http://randommind.wordpress.com/2007/12/08/we-wont-be-raising-our-hands-anymore/ http://staff.bbhcsd.org/schinkerj/archives/2007/12/09/students-20/


 * **[|Twenty-five Days To Make a Difference] -** And lest you think only teenagers are using blogs to change the world, check out this one by a 10-year-old girl that started with shoveling snow and turned into online activism for charitable causes and service learning. Note all the literacies she employs in order to make all of this work.


 * **[|U.S. Teen Brings New School to Rural Cambodia]** **-** 17-year-old teen raised $52,000 and partnered with world bank, etc.

=Examples of Other Interesting Blogs=


 * **[|Blogger Stories]** - A blog devoted to showcasing how blogs have touched people's lives user:chericem1


 * **[|The Generator Blog]** - A beautiful blog that contains links to all sorts of fun generators (cereal boxes, singing cards, etc.) user:chericem1


 * **[|LeadingAnswers: Leadership and Agile Project Management Blog: Leadership]** - A great blog dedicated to posts on agile leadership. Substantive posts, nice graphic representations user:chericem1


 * **[|Learning Signs]** - Shows how one educator has engaged his family in using a blog to document their informal learning user:chericem1


 * **[|Overheard Lines]** - A collection of comments that have been overheard user:chericem1


 * **[|PostSecret]** - Began as an online community art project and has now resulted in at least 4 books user:chericem1


 * **[|Ten Years of My Life]** - Full screen photo blog user:chericem1

=Examples of Research-related Blogs=

[|The Qualitative Research Blog] - A blog devoted to issues related to qualitative research user:chericem1

[|Research Blogs] - A collection of blogs that are being used in some part of the research process user:chericem1

[|The Teacher Research Blog] - A blog maintained by the New York State English Council's Standing Committee on Teacher Inquiry user:chericem1

= = = = =**Why "blog" and what should you consider before doing so?**=


 * [|Avoiding the 5 Most Common Mistakes in Using Blogs with Students] - Targeted at higher ed, but much of it is also applicable to K-12


 * **[|The Blue Skunk Blog: Young Bloggers, Can We Stop Them? Can We Steer Them?]** - An educator uses his blog as a tool for thinking and learning about blogging with others user:chericem1


 * **[|Disclosure Statement - apophenia]** - Sample disclosure statement Danah Boyd wrote and has posted on her blog user:chericem1


 * **[|The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Support Literacy in the Classroom] -** This brief article describes how blogs can be used to support literacy development by promoting reading, writing, storytelling, self-expression, and the development of digital literacy skills. It offers links to sample blogs user:chericem1


 * **[|LeaderTalk: Using A Web 2.0 Credo to Help Frame Administrative Actions]** - Blog posting from a K-12 administrator re: his action plan for engaging people in his school in blogging, web 2.0 technologies, etc. user:chericem1


 * **[|Remote Access: The Social Life of Knowledge]** - This post discusses the distinctions between student work as artifacts v. student work as resources and emphasizes the importance of playing with knowledge and its social components. Many examples of using web2.0 for ed. purposes user:chericem1


 * **[|Transparency and Constructivism (Or five good reasons to blog the research process)]** - Brief outline of concrete reasons for blogging - would be good for PD w/ university faculty, as well as for students doing inquiry projects to read prior to beginning their projects user:chericem1

=How does one "blog?"=


 * **[|How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else)] -** Tips for avoiding some of the dangers associated with blogging user:chericem1


 * **[|10 Ways to Create Content for Your Weblog] -** A very helpful article targeting bloggers that contains 10 helpful tips for overcoming writer's block, along with a list of links to other useful articles on blogging that will be especially helpful to beginners user:chericem1


 * **[|Truths and Consequences of Blogs That Stand Out « Lorelle on WordPress]** - Rules of thumb for good blog design user:chericem1


 * **[|Beth's Blog: Shoulder-to-Shoulder Instructional Media: My Tagging Screencast at NTEN!]** - Screencast that explains tagging, plus links to resources on tagging, etc. user:chericem1

=How does one create a videoblog or vodcast?=


 * **[|7 Things You Should Know About Videoblogging]**


 * **[|Freevlog » Tutorial]** - Clearly outlines the steps in creating your first video blog post user:chericem1


 * **[|Videoblogging.info] -** A simple introduction to the what, why, and how of videoblogging user:chericem1


 * **[|How to Create a Vodcast] -** 8 steps to creating your very own vodcast! user:chericem1

=**How does one manage blogs?**=


 * **[|A Difference: Reading Again]** - Short little post - useful b/c it talks about downsizing your feeds based on which ones push you the most v. those that interest you user:chericem1


 * **[|Bloglines]** - (For use with websites that offer RSS or XML feeds) A few simple clicks of your mouse will allow you to download a newsreader that will compile and organize your blog and news feeds from various sources user:chericem1


 * **[|Bloglines Step-by-Step] -** Offers a short description of how to add feeds to your //Bloglines// aggregator user:chericem1


 * **[|Google Reader]** - Compile and organize your blog and news feeds from various websites that have RSS or XML feeds user:chericem1


 * **[|RSS Quick Start Guide for Educators] -** [[image:file:clip_image002.gif width="109" height="191"]]This link will take you to the table of contents for a comprehensive guide to RSS feeds. The guide offers step-by-step explanations for teachers who want to begin subscribing to various RSS feeds (beginning with an explanation of RSS!) and can be downloaded as a PDF user:chericem1

=**Research on Blogging**=


 * **[|Bibliography of Research on Blogging] -** An alphabetized bibliography of research on blogging in the last 5-6 years user:chericem1


 * **[|From Learning Logs to Learning Blogs]** - A research project by Ewan McIntosh from the UK re: how a thoughtful "marriage" of pedagogy and technology can improve language learning user:chericem1


 * **[|Improving Chinese Language Learning Using Blogs]** - A study re: the use of blogs as tools for second language acquisition in a Chinese class user:chericem1


 * **[|Into the Blogosphere: Remediation, Genre, and Motivation: Key Concepts for Teaching with Weblogs]**- This thoughtful, well-structured article describes the results of a study on the use of weblogs with students user:chericem1


 * **[|Its a Blog, Blog, Blog World: Users of Blogs - Abstract]** - Survey research that describes the demographics and motivations of blog users user:chericem1


 * **[|Unstable Texts: An Ethnographic Look at how Bloggers and Their Audience Negotiate Self-presentation, Authenticity, and Norm Formation]** - Master's thesis on blogging user:chericem1

=Technical Tips & Tricks=


 * **[|Blogger & Podcaster, April 2007]** - Online magazine with technical tips re: blogging and podcasting . . . ads include sound, etc. user:chericem1


 * **[|Blurb - Self publish with free BookSmart software for Windows or Mac]** - "Blog-slurping" - Inexpensive self-publishing allows you to turn your blog into a book with this free, downloadable software. Also does cookbooks, family history, portfolios, wedding albums, etc. user:chericem1


 * **[|Creating a Feed]** - 2-page PDF with simple instructions and clear screenshots for creating an RSS feed for Blogger user:chericem1


 * **[|Learning More about Structured Blogging - Bokardo]** **-** Evaluates design pros and cons of structured blogging features of Word Press, discusses why and whether structured blogging is a good idea, etc. user:chericem1


 * **[|How to Translate a Foreign Language RSS Feed - Lifehacker]** - A quick look at the diagram and the process is crystal clear! user:chericem1


 * **[|Sloodle - Virtual Environment Learning System]** - Short video that shows how Sloodle lets students post blog entries to Moodle from within Second Life user:chericem1


 * **[|SplashCast: Channel Yourself Across the Web]** - Use this tool to stream channels that combine documents (PDFs and PowerPoints), images, music, text, and video. Modify your channel and will all the web pages ‘tuned’ to that channel will be updated automatically user:chericem1


 * **[|Talkr -- Letting Blogs Speak for Themselves]** - "Converts text-only blogs into podcasts" that you can listen to on your iPod. RSS feeds available too user:chericem1


 * **[|Tasty Data Goodies - Swivel]** - Lets you search for, explore, compare, share, and upload data on a variety of different topics. Searchable. VERY useful for finding stats on particular topics user:chericem1


 * **[|YourMinis]** - Turn any blog page into a widget, along with widgets developed by users and posted for the public user:chericem1


 * **[|ZoomClouds]** - This app lets you design the appearance of tag clouds for your sites user:chericem1

=Tools for Blogging=


 * **[|Blogger.com]** - A free, easy-to-use blogging service that will have you blogging in just 3 easy steps user:chericem1


 * **[|Edublogs.org]** - Free, easy-to-use blogging service for educators that combines the affordances of blogs with the functionality of web pages user:chericem1

See also: Podcasts, Publications, Representing the Data, Websites, Wikis, Writing up the Research

Back to: Disseminating the Findings, Research Resources, Technical Tools, Technology, Your Research

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