School Library Blogs: What's the Scoop?

Lessons Learned: Implementing a blog in a classroom

2006-12-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

Blogs are easy and fun to create and use. That's the good news. Why, then, are blogs not-so-easily implemented? The answer will sound familiar: a new technology, however exciting or useful, will only start living and breathing, if people use it. Technology is as useful as people make it. In other words, if no one is using a blog it has no function or purpose. That may seem simple, but failing technology is a recurring theme in Education. I just finished an internship in an urban K-5 school, where I watched computers collect dust in every classroom.
One lunch-time I heard a teacher voice frustration about the lack of response she was getting from her students. She posted each Monday a "Question of the Week" that students were to research and answer. Only 3 out of 27 kids were turning in an answer. I thought a blog might be an inspiring tool; the kids could read the weekly post and submit answers online. If the teacher moderated the submissions, she could published them on Sunday or Monday morning. Students could view and submit to the site from anywhere they had an internet connection and, with edublogs.org I could password protect student work. The teacher was very receptive to the concept and the tool, so I created it. And a few students got excited - you guessed it - the same students who were already submitting paper responses. The blog never took off.
Here are some insights into my recent experience and notes to myself on what I would do differently next time. Again, this won't sound new to those of you who have tried to introduce new technology in a classroom or any other setting, but there's nothing like experience to hit these concepts home!
Do a short "How to Blog" workshop for all staff
Be sure to have coffee, tea and cookies (as always) and invite staff to watch blogging in action. After a short presentation on the basics, give them a chance to try it. I wish I'd made time at the start of the year to do a Blogging workshop for all staff. After the busy start of school and parent-teacher conferences, the holidays were upon us. I plan on returning to the school to do a workshop in January, but it would have been much more effective to introduce Blogging to staff, and let projects grow organically, stemming from their interest. Doing a workshop for everyone gives staff a common base knowledge. Then they can learn from each other's blogging experiences. This is a way to get you, the librarian, out of the drivers seat and into the role of consultant.
Have the Teacher Create the Blog
I created the blog and then presented it to the teacher. If we had created it together (it only takes 5 minutes tops) sitting side-by-side, then we would have been equal partners from the beginning. As it turned out, I seemed to be the one driving the project, and, as the librarian, that didn't make sense. She's the classroom teacher, and if the tool is to be used by her students, she should be using it from the start. Plus, when she saw the new (and beautiful) blog I created, she was automatically intimidated. After that, I couldn't get her to sit down with me so I could show her how easy it was to edit and use the blog.
Involve Parents
After you've helped a teacher create a blog, it's paramount to send a letter home to parents introducing the blog: it's purpose, role in the classroom community, and expectations for student involvement (see Safety First for more details). This extends the community and creates a school-home connection. If you introduce it well, parents will just love seeing their child's work published!
Help the Kids - a lot
Introduce blogging in stages. First, just show them the site and put information on it for them to view only. Bookmark the blog in the classroom and the library for easy access. Then, show them how "comment" and and submit their work. In a K-5 environment (and perhaps Middle School-ers too at first), be sure to have students first write down what they will eventually type. It's also a good idea to make the blog optional at first (students can submit by paper or by publishing a blog comment). If students seem motivated by seeing their work published online for all in their community to see, then their interest will be more authentic. That intrinsic motivation is what will keep the blog going, and the online community has a chance to flourish. As the librarian, it's important to support the kids blogging efforts when you can - during recess or before/after school. Just be sure to make yourself known as a resource to both the teacher and the students.

I look forward to a time when I can blog again with kids. I got a taste, and I'm hooked :)
The effort is well worth it, so keep blogging!

Librarians who blog

2006-11-09T08:28:00.000-08:00

Another great way to search for library and information science blogs by individuals:
http://www.liszen.com/

DOPA - So long until 2007?

2006-10-31T08:04:00.000-08:00

It's been longer than I realized since I last posted, but mid-terms are starting to wrap-up at last and I'm starting to catch my breath. Now for an update on DOPA. When we last left things, the House had passed a version of their bill over the summer, but the Senate hadn't yet acted. According to the ALA Washington office, Congress has been occupied with the elections and after the elections there are no plans to consider DOPA in this session. Thus, the existing DOPA bill would expire at the end of the session. This issue may resurface in 2007, but in the meantime, it doesn't look like DOPA is going anywhere.

News coverage on blogs in the classroom - it's GOOD news!

2006-10-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

While we were at the WLMA conference on Saturday (10/14), the Seattle Times ran an article entitled, "Teachers are reaching out to students with a new class of blogs." The story references a classroom of 3rd graders in Seattle who are blogging, and then goes on to describe the "boom" in blogging and how blogs are being used in classrooms. How timely!

What are other teacher-librarians blogging about?

2006-10-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

If you want to find other blogs from teacher-librarians, or librarians in any field for that matter, you might want to try these searching tools:

Google's blog search
Technorati
(Technorati says that it currently tracks over 57 million blogs. You can search for terms in posts, tags and the Technorati directory.)

Another possibility is to find a blog you like, and just check out who it is that they've linked to on their blog. I usually find that's the easiest way for me to get started. In fact, check out some of the blogs in the links section on this blog and see where they take you....

How many blogs are created each day?

2006-10-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in our presentation, the rate at which new blogs are being created each day is estimated to be 175,000. Some of those blogs are automatically generated and are essentially spam right from the start. And of course not all of those blogs that are created by even the well-intentioned will be maintained over the long-term. For the source of this information and to find other interesting facts and charts about blogs all throughout the virtual realm, check out what David Sifry, CEO and founder of Technorati has to say in his State of the Blogosphere, August 2006.

WLMA 2006 conference wrap-up

2006-10-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Jill here :) Wow. I am still on an emotional high at the conclusion of the WLMA 2006 conference. Sara and I both made our first appearance as WLMA presenters and I know I speak for both of us when I say, "Thank you!" To all of you who took the time to come listen to us, and to share your ideas and questions with us, thank you for giving us even more great ideas to think about.

Sara Seely and Jill Fairlee Kobayashi

Many of you had questions that I said I would address on the blog and I will. As we said, blogging is fast and easy; it's the process of finding the answers and learning new things that may take a little time as I work my way through the list. But I will get to all of your amazing questions in the next few days. Stay tuned!

Please comment on what you see - let us know what you agree and disagree with, and let us know what questions you have. Also, feel free to send me an email. Remember - blogging is interactive so even though our conference session has concluded within the physical confines of the conference space in SeaTac, our dialogue can continue out here in the virtual world!

Look, We're blogging, again!

2006-10-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Here we are at WLMA!!!

WLMA oct 13

2006-10-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

look we're blogging!!!!

So How Do I Get Started?!

2006-10-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

Easy Steps to Creating a Blog by Beth Filar Williams and WebJunction's Technology Watch Committee

In addition to a written step-by-step description of how to set up a blog on Blogger, there's a link to a 5 minute video that will walk you through the process of creating a blog on Blogger.

Setting Up a Blog With EduBlogs by David Warlick

This clear step-by-step guide will assist you with setting up a blog on EduBlogs.

BlogMeister Instructions by David Warlick

Tells you how to establish an account with BlogMeister as well as how to start a blog.

Weblogs: The Possibilities are Limitless! by Anne Davis, an educator with 20 years of experience as elementary classroom teacher

This website includes some general definitions, articles about blogs, links to educational blogs, possibilities for educational weblogs, etc.

Successful School Library/Librarian Blogs – What’s the Key?

2006-10-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, I think we can assume that by successful we’re not talking about how much revenue you generate with your blog. In this instance, I’m not talking about using a blog as an educational tool either. Rather, how do you create a blog that serves as a valuable resource for your students, parents, teachers, and school administrators? I think it boils down to one thing: content, content, content! I'm using the term content to include both the voice conveyed in your blog, as well as the actual information and resources that you share with your readers. Creating a loyal following of readers in your target community is what will make your blog “successful.” Here are a few ideas that may help:

Ten Habits of Bloggers That Win! – Some of the ideas may be a little more “high-tech” than you’re planning for your blog, but this is a useful article nonetheless.
Why Blog Post Frequency Does Not Matter Anymore – Never fear! You do not need to chain yourself to a computer to maintain a blog.

And if you’re interested in more about blogging about professional ideas in the fields of library science or education:
10 Techniques for Finding Readers – This is geared toward how to join the blogosphere and engage in dialogue with colleagues.

Classroom Blogs: Ideas

2006-10-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

If you haven't caught on yet, Will Richardson's book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (Corwin Press, 2006) is the best (and only?) in-print guide to using the read-write web in the classroom. I've been carrying it around in preparation for this presentation, and enjoyed reading it just about everywhere. If you're considering using blogs in the classroom, get Will's book, start reading his blog, Weblogg-ed, and you're on your way!
The following is a quick summary of chapter two, "Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice", where Will Richardson establishes six functions of educational blogs.

Class Portal
The "class portal" serves as a main communication tool with students, and, by extension, parents. Post the curriculum, assignments and all class-related handouts and rules. This is also a way towards classroom transparency and an excellent communication tool with other teachers and school administration. Everyone knows what you and your students are up to!
Online Filing Cabinet
Add student weblogs to your Class Portal and you've got a complete record of class activities - and you're paperless! Students post and therefore archive their work. This opens the door for peer-to-peer interaction online.
E-Portfolio
Students select the best work and write a post reflecting on each work they choose to share. This can span classrooms, and even years of study. Almost any file type (images, text documents, slides, movies, audio files) can be uploaded to a blog.
Collaborative Space
Students can work together to become experts on a topic, and then share their knowledge with others. They can also learn from other students, teachers, professionals, or experts, without being restricted by physical location. Blogs can build an educational community beyond the classroom. For example, Will Richardson's class became the expert on The Secret Life of Bees and collaborated with Sue Monk to create reader guide to the book.
Knowledge Management and Articulation
Teachers can use blogs to communicate with colleagues. This is a great tool to use internally in an organization - for committees or continued dialogues.
School Website
This solves the problem of the never-updated web site. Blogs can be updated in a flash, and then used to communicate school announcements, reflections on school events, parent-driven newsletters, etc. For example, Principal Tim Lauer provides an excellent example in Lewis Elementary web site.

School Library Professional Blogs

2006-10-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

School Library Journal blog
The School Library Journal blog covers all kinds of school and library related information from around the world. The blog includes frequent interviews. One particularly relevant entry is Blogomania! by Eric Oatman. The author addresses the use of blogs by teachers and librarians and "how to get in on the action."

American School Library Association blog
The ASLA is using a blog to disseminate information about organization activities and promote its innitiatives.

Caution: DOPA and Other Roadblocks

2006-10-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, this blog has inspired some of you to consider the possibilities of using a blog in your school library. Yay! But before going too far, make sure consider how the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) may directly or indirectly affect your school (district) and the policies for access to the internet.

Although the House of Representatives has passed the bill (H.R. 5319), the Senate has not yet voted on the bill. The ALA anticipates that as the bill is written today, DOPA would require libraries to block access to the following: "commercial Web sites that let users create Web pages or profiles or offer communication with other users via forums, chat rooms, e-mail or instant messaging." ALA is tracking this issue; for the latest status on the bill in the Senate, click here.

For more background, as well as action items such as a sample letter to the editor, YALSA’s DOPA Information Packet is handy as well.

Even though DOPA hasn’t been enacted, some schools already apply filters that block websites that enable free e-mail or personal Web pages. There may be blocks or filters that can be removed on a site-by-site basis. Know the applicable policies before investing your time in a blog that your students and/or readers can’t access!

Teacher Resources for Blogging in the Classroom

2006-10-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms
Buy this book for your library! Will Richardson is the author of Weblogg-ed and now he's brought us this how-to-guide for educational blogging. It's a must-have for a K-12 educator who want to explore blogging in-and-out of the classroom. Get it now!
TeachersFirst
This online tutorial on blogging is one-stop-shopping for a classroom teacher. It's chock full of practical ideas for blogs in the classroom, and has a safety overview.
SupportBlogging! is a wiki designed by Steve Hargadon to encourage educators to talk about how they are using blogs in the classroom. Check out what educational blogging can be and add to the conversation! Find the wiki at http://supportblogging.wikispaces.com. Particularly helpful is the page titled “Student & Teacher Blogs” because it links to lots of great examples of educational blogging. Add your blog to the list!
Anne Davis comes the rescue with a fabulous how-to wiki on educational blogging - Improving Instruction Through the Use of Weblogs. It's very visual and provides lots of examples.
Blogical Minds is an excellent example for teachers to follow on how to guide students through the blogging process. Anne Davis (again!) is leading this project, and her blog is a good place to read reflections from an educator using blogs in the classroom. Also, be sure to visit the web quest that teaches elementary students the basics of writing a blog entry: Blogging: It's Elementary!

Blogging for Authentic Communication

2006-10-01T06:43:00.000-07:00

Blogs can be a motivator for students, and a challenge for teachers. Blogging pulls on students intrinsic motivation by giving them a place for authentic written communication with their peers. For teachers, blogging with students can be a challenge because it requires establishing a community in a new medium, and can increase the frequency and level of written communication between teacher and student. Teachers must model how to use blogs appropriately and effectively by becoming an active blogger with his or her students. This requires reading, thinking and writing thoughtful feedback on their work.
Konrad Glogowski voices his thoughts on this topic as he plows through pages and pages of student blog entries while working on his PhD thesis on how blogging communities are used in education. Check out his Blog of Proximal Development, which is an all around good read. Of particular interest to me is his reflection on the Teacher as Blogger and how blogs force teachers to take on a new voice in a blogging community; moving away from 'grader' and towards 'co-creator'. A teacherÂs voice may change and develop from one of authority to one of reflective co-learner. This pushes the teacher to be a facilitator of community in an online environment. Students will come away with the abilities to read, write, and respond thoughtfully, but only because the teacher is modeling this for them.

Power of Blogs

2006-09-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, so there's a lot of hype about blogs, but it's not just talk. Sometimes the impact of a blog or type of blog is substantial.

News
Traditional providers of print and broadcast news have begun to consider ways of incorporating blogs. For example the The Daily Nightly, authored by Brian Williams and other network correspondents is partly about the content of news, and partly about making a program to deliver the news. But blogging isn't limited to the national and world news. The Seattle Times includes several blogs relating to areas of Northwest business, technology, rock music, politics, and sports.

Military Blogging or “Milblogging”
Milblogging has become increasingly common as more military personnel stationed overseas and/or on the frontlines now have access to the internet. Some authors write as a means of staying in touch with family and friends, as a means of journaling, or to air their personal views. In March 2006, the author of Midnight in Iraq was contacted by the New York Times as part of a series on military bloggers stationed in Iraq. The details of his experiences while in Iraq include journalistic style descriptions like this one of encounters with insurgents including photos of the area. As always, readers must use a critical eye to discern the reliability and authority of the information source, but with additional resources offering different perspectives on world events, readers are not limited to mainstream media outlets anymore.

Corporate
The Stone Creek Coffee blog covers everything from how staff members like to drink their coffee, to photos and stories of local events in which the company participated, as well as national news stories relating to coffee. The blog also links to the online shopping outlet. This gives a "face" to a corporate entity while still allowing customers to make purchases.

McDonald’s has a corporate responsibility blog in which the authors including Bob Langert (Vice President of McDonald’s) addresses issues or concerns that deal with the business, values, and mission of McDonald’s. Posts address topics in areas such as community, the environment, balanced/active lifestyles, etc. At a time when corporate responsibility seems to be questioned loudly and publicly in the news, a blog like this is one avenue for a corporation to do some proactive marketing and to allow the corporation to offer a rationale for some decisions and actions.

Blogging for Dollars is the idea that a very small teams of people, or even an individual can generate enough income, via advertisements on their blogs, to be the sole means of income and business. The blog itself becomes the business. While challenging to do, it’s not impossible and some blogs like Boing Boing are anticipating grossing $1 million in annual revenues in 2006.

Personal or political? Blurring the lines….
A British secretary who was fired claims that her personal weblog was the cause for termination; this is just one example of a situation in which an employer perceived that the company was misrepresented or defamed as the result of an employee's blog. In response to some of the legal issues raised by personal blogs about the workplace, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has developed a Legal Guide for Bloggers and the guide How to Blog Safely (About Work Or Anything Else). Additionally, some employers are creating policies to address corporate blogging by employees.

In November 2004, with a post entitled “EA: The Human Story” the “EA Spouse” talked about the treatment of her significant other, a software engineer for Electronic Arts (EA), by EA. What started out as an essay with some complaints and questions regarding EA’s business practices and motivation set off a “powder keg of response” prompting responses and widespread dialogue from others in the game industry and software developers in other fields as well.

Classroom Blogs: Examples

2006-09-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

I'll start with a quote from a 5th grader.
"I think my writing has got way better then when I started. Even my readers have noticed.I hated writing so much, but now that I know how to wright better I am liking it."
The essence of blogging is engaging kids in critical reading and thinking and then asking them to clearly communicate their thoughts. I encourage you to browse the blogs created by these 5th grade students, who were guided by educator Anne Davis. The student blog entries are reflections on their learning about writing. This is an example of students thinking and writing about blogs; both how to use them and how to better communicate through writing.

Here are some more examples of classroom blogs:

The Secret Life of Bees is an online reader's guide to the book, created by high school students, and guided by educator Will Richardson. This is a stellar example of a blog being used as a collaborative space.
Blogical Minds is a forum for 5th grade students to write about what they learned in class. Another spectacular example, from Anne Davis, that illustrates how blogging can capture teacher and student reflection on the process of learning. Check out this web quest teaching elementary students how to blog: Blogging: It's Elementary!
AP Calculus AB is brought to us by Mr. Kuropatwa and his AP Caluculus high school students (and parents!). They document their learning by explaining concepts to peers or reflecting on personal struggles with mastering concepts. This is peer-to-peer help at its best!
Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog gives parents curriculum updates and highlights her first and second graders' work.
Mrs. Britton has introduced her class to the basics of writing a blog entry and commenting by having each student write a riddle describing a literary character.
ResearchFun! is a blog I set up in support of a 3rd grade class doing a research question-of-the-week.
These are just a few examples. Please send us yours!

School Library Blogs: Examples

2006-09-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

One of the things that really drew me to this field is the fact that so many librarians are finding innovative ways of using new forms of technology to access and distribute information and as tools to aid the learning process. I think blogs illustrate this nicely. Sara and I were discussing the specific functions of blogs in the school library or media center, so I searched out some existing school library blogs to see how they’re currently being used. While many blogs serve more than one purpose, here is a list of some blog functions as I see it:

Library Instruction/ Techniques
The Mabry Media Center blog includes a series of techniques and instructional posts on topics such as research planning, accessing library resources from home, and internet searching tips just to name a few.
Book Reviews: School Librarian Picks
Olson Middle School – Media Specialist Mrs. Kochel provides a series of book reviews for students.
School Library Web Site
Ms. Voelker of Huntingtown High School Library Media Center uses her blog as the main web site, which links to electronic resources, guides to print resources, summer reading suggestions, an about the library page, new-book reviews, and a page for each teacher in the school.
Student Contributions
Hawley Library Media Center has an impressive array of contributors and book reviews allowing students to use their writing skills to share what they’ve learned and read with others.
Creating a Community
Similarly, the Northfield Mount Hermon school library has a blog with a “Bookmark of the Month” concept. These posts include contributions from teachers and students at the school - building a sense of community by involving the adults in the blog. Also the “Lounge Lizard Archives” highlights photos of students in the library along with quotes from those students. Whether they’re doing homework or just hanging out, you get the feeling the library is an often-visited and well-used place.
Announcements/Latest Happenings
The Neil Armstrong Elementary Library blog is a good example of a blog that posts announcements primarily about happenings in the library and school.
Establishing an Online “Personality” or “Presence” for the Librarian
The Uni High Library has a blog that’s fun and informative for even non-students to read and often covers topics broadly related to libraries, information technology, and books without focusing solely on the Uni High Library. The primary contributor is Frances Jacobson Harris, the librarian at Uni High.

This raises some questions for me:
Are some purposes better suited to a blog than others? For example, if the school library already has a website, is it easier just to update the school library website with announcements than to try to maintain a separate blog for that purpose? If the library website already has a listing or toolbar of resources available for use by students, does using a blog to write posts that highlight some of those resources add any value? Or are students less likely to read these posts preferring instead to read posts about book reviews or some other subject matter.

tags: school library blog

More Ideas for Blogging in the Classroom

2006-09-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some ideas for how teachers can use a blog with students in the classroom. This particular list comes from First Class Blogs, an introduction to blogs for teachers, which is put out by TeachersFirst.

Make a suggestion box for the class or a particular unit and invite students to contribute ideas
Students take turns writing a "Week in Review" blog entry
High school students doing lab research can collaborate by sharing their data and findings
Hot topics on campus, such as the uniforms-or-not debate, can be discussed in a blog
Critique a web site to practice evaluation criteria
Write a newspaper sports story covering one of their own sports events
Report on a vacation or holiday
Role-play a point of view by having them write a blog entry from a different perspective, like a rock when your doing a geology unit or a person from a different time period.
Find another class to blog with!
Comment on Current Events by posting a story and asking for responses
Report on a field trip
Write a community tour with pictures

Share your ideas with us by posting a comment!

Safety First

2006-09-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

Safety considerations are a must when children are publishing to the Internet. Here's a list of things to consider when creating a blog for classroom use.
The following is paraphrased from Will Richardson's "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms", which I highly recommend as a resource if you're just getting started with educational blogging. It's one-stop-shopping!

The basics

Students should never publish personal information that might identify them to predators: phone number, instant message identifier, home address, e-mail address.

What's in a name?

The level of security you choose as the administrator of the blog is up to you and the comfort level of your parents, school and community. Students need to feel they're represented as the owner of their published work. Ideally, a blog can be password-protected so that students can blog under their real name. How you set up your blog should be balanced with security concerns. If you don't password protect your blog so as to increase access, the highest level of anonymity can be achieved by assigning each student-blogger a number, or having each student choose an alias. It is also acceptable to have your students use first name only, which I recommend primary grades for primary grades. Middle and High schoolers can use their first names for sure, and you can consider using full names. When doing so, be sure to engage in an ongoing conversation about Internet safety while searching, reading and publishing.

Blogging letter

Send home a letter to parents that states your plans blog use in your curriculum and clearly outlines how students will be using the blog and the security procedures you've put in place. Most importantly, introduce them to the blog by posting the same letter on your blog and giving them the web address. It's best if you show them, rather than tell them, and perhaps some of your enthusiasm will rub off! Here's a link to a wiki on blogging put out by Bud the Teacher, which provides several sample blogging letters for parents.

Blogging agreement

For the middle and high school students it is a good idea to write up a 'blogging agreement' with your students. This document outlines blogging etiquette and your expectations for the class as you enter an online community. You can even write them as a class! For primary grades, I suggest you always have your students write down their blog entry on a piece of paper before going to the computer to type it in. Again, Bud comes to the rescue and has an entry on Blogging Rules his class developed.

Free Blog Hosts - the Gist of it!

2006-09-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

There are so many free blog hosts that I couldn't possibly begin to review all of them. So here are three that are frequently used by educators.

Blogger

run by a team at Google
very popular and extremely user-friendly
blog owner can delete posts
each template has different features, so choose one that fits your needs
.com domain, so some filters will block this site

EduBlogs

brought to us by James Farmer and the Chalkface Project
easy-to-use "categories" feature allows you to attach common 'tags' to posts thereby creating hierarchy within a site for easy navigation
administrator can password protect each post from viewing
in addition to the blog, you can create static pages
free wiki powered by Wikispaces
.org domain

The BlogMeister

David Warlick and the Landmark Project supports this free tool.
security feature: teacher registers a Classroom Blog and then "adds students" in order for themselves to post articles and comment on others work
teacher can password-protect reading the site
search by state to see the many of Washington state classroom blogs in BlogMeister!
.com domain, so some filters will block this site

For more information about other weblog hosts and to consider the different fucntions you might want, the Annenberg Center for Communication at USC published this Blog Software Comparison Chart which is a handy summary table of eight different providers and levels of service.

Start Blogging

This entry on the SupportBlogging! wiki lists different free blog hosts and because it's a wiki, you can add your own favorite to the list or edit a description to add to the discussion.

Educators Blogging about Technology

2006-09-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

• Will Richardson
A seasoned educator, Mr. Richardson has recently published Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms and is the go-to guy when it comes to web logs and their application in education. He is also keen on exposing how our students are already using these tools to Teach kids (eachother) and Flatten the World.

• Anne Davis
After decades in the classroom, Ms. Davis now comes to us from Georgia State University. Many of her recent projects relate to blogs. See her students in action in the NewsQuest project and more!

• Heather
Heather is a high school English teacher who is intent on collaborating with Lianne, the school’s teacher librarian. Heather has posted a diary where she reflects on their journey towards collaboration (sections on Time, Trust, and Total Collaboration). I included this blog as inspiration for each of us; we have insight to share and can serve as resources for each other.

• Bud Hunt
A high school langguage arts teacher in Colorado, Mr. Hunt is also a teacher-consultant with the Colorado State University Writing Project. He has conducted several classes in which students created their own blogs.

• David Warlick
His blog "2 Cents Worth" is updated frequently and is postively overflowing with useful information about all kinds of education and technology ideas. Mr. Warlick is the father of Class Blogmeister, a free blog hosting service offered to educators.

Librarians Blogging about Technology

2006-09-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

The Shifted Librarian

Jenny Levine has been writing about technology and libraries for over a decade and is definitely the one to look to when it comes to blogs and their applications in librarianship. She recently co-led a pre-conference workshop with Michael Stephens titled Rev Up Your Online Services: Blogs, RSS, Wikis and other Dynamic and Low-cost Technologies at the 2006 Washington Library Association Conference.

Blue Skunk Blog

Doug Johnson authors this blog focusing on technology and its application in the classroom. He's a humorous and thoughtful read, so tune in :)

Information Wants to Be Free

Meredith Farkas is the Distance Learning Librarian at Norwich University. In 2006 she was named a “Mover & Shaker” by Library Journal. She discusses a variety of new technologies including the use of wikis, blogs, and social software in libraries.

Joyce Valenza's NeverEnding Search

School librarian Joyce Valenza describes her blog as "a discussion of information fluency, searching, teaching, and learning in the 21st century."

Informancy

Chris Harris, head of a school library system, has a background in elementary teaching and instructional technology and is working toward a MLS degree. It's not surprising that he sees lots of interesting overlap in all these areas!

Isolation - Be Gone!

2006-09-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

Blogs: Ending isolation. (2006). Principal Leadership (Middle School Ed.), 7(1), 46-51.

• Educators in rural schools are sometimes impeded from taking part in professional development. Then, when they finally make it to a conference or workshop, they return home with a heightened awareness of professional isolation. This article reports on the experiences of the teachers who took part in the Education Development Center's (EDC) Supported Literacy Institutes in 2003. Not only did the participants go home inspired to increase literacy in their Middle schools, they were able to * maintain that motivation * by participating in a blogging community.

• By writing blog entries, the workshop participants were able to continue sharing with each other. Teachers could share how they implemented the literacy program by writinge blog entries describing a particular activity or lesson plan. Or sometimes a teacher would write a ‘call for help’ and because other teachers could respond via the comment function, the call was always answered. The blog served as a forum for sharing success as well as struggles. This online community proved blogs a successful way to support new instructional practices while overcoming time and distance.

Public Library Blogs for Kids and Teens

2006-09-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

All right. Having looked at some of the school library blog functions, it seems like it might be useful to consider public library blog functions. I've started this post several times and kept running into the same challenge. I just couldn't see distinct functions in the same way that school library blogs seemed to work. In my mind, unlike school library blogs which seem to have an array of functions that they cover, sometimes all at once, sometimes very distinctly, the function of public library blogs aimed at children and teens seems to fall primarily in the “all-purpose” category. (It’s worth noting that many of the following blogs exist in addition to the public library’s main website, and this may well affect the capacity of the contributors as well as the blog's content.) A few examples with highlights include the following:

Tufts Library from Weymouth Public Library:
Lots of different updates, book reviews, websites of interest to teens, etc.

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – More of the same, but from teen contributors, also includes links to popular teen author websites

Coshocton Public Library
Includes updates from what the teen book group has been reading
Blog Without a Library wiki.

tags: school library, public library blog, school library blog

It's About Collaboration and Communication

2006-08-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

I was just doing some completely unrelated research on the Washington State webpage, and found a link to the Washington State Library's Summer Reading blog. It's a pilot project that the library is running this summer. I particularly like the answer to the question"why a summer reading blog?"

"Blogs and similar collaboration technologies have the potential to foster better communication among librarians, between librarians and patrons, and among patrons themselves."

tags: library blogs, washington state library, librarians

Summer Blogging

2006-08-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

Huh. Blogging regularly is a little more challenging that I had anticipated. Perhaps it's becuase Sara and I don't currently work in a school library setting with all of the wonderful day-to-day experiences that could provide insightful and exciting posts. Or maybe it's just the side effects of summer. The nice people at Performancing have offered a list of "Tips for Avoiding Summer Blog Death". Evidently we are not alone! This is my attempt to address item #1 on the list - post shorter posts.

Let the blogging begin!

2006-07-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

My first blog post. I keep telling myself to stop making it more than it is, but I can't help feeling overwhelmed by the blank page and the curser blinking in front of me. And yet, this writing anxiety is at the heart of what interests me about Blogs, a relatively new and definitely powerful form of publishing. So, I guess it isn't so ridiculous to sit here with that famous Gene Fowler quote thumping through my brain, "Writing is easy. All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead."

Blogs are proving to be a highly sought medium for kids and young adults, and I think I'm catching the bug, too. But do blogs have a place in schools? Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson's article titled "Blogs and Blogging, Part II", found in the May 2006 issue of School Library Media Activities Monthly, suggests that in order to make blogs effective learning tools, we should consider the purpose, audience, process, content, and intended learning outcomes of a blog before using it with students. In other words, just because we're typing into a blog doesn't mean that writing standards go out the window. Or does it? Doug Johnson, Director of Media and Technology and author of Blue Skunk Blog, seems to think (and I think most of us can agree) that blogs challenge the writing of traditional print media (see his entry "Blogorreah and blogs vs cellulous"). So, where does this leave us? Writing is difficult, blogs are challenging traditional writing conventions, and the youth of America are totally jazzed. How can anyone resist?

Now to introduce myself. My name is Sara, and, like Jill, I'm pursuing an MLIS degree at the University of Washington's Information School. Jill and I have chosen to present at the up-coming WLA conference on the use of blogs in school libraries, and decided to start - surprise! - this blog as a way to reach out to teachers and librarians as we reflect on our inquiry. So, here's my first confession (and only in the third paragraph - perhaps I'm a natural blogger after all?): I really don't know much about blogs.

The good news - teacher/librarians DO! And so, in my first post, I'd like to turn to all you amazing folks out there. How are you using blogs in your library and/or with your students? My hope is this post will serve as a forum for you to share your ideas and challenges with each other. So, without further ado, let the blogging begin!

tags: school library