21Classes

This tool (still in beta testing 10/07) offers two "layers," much as Class Blogmeister does, so teachers have an overarching account with student accounts underneath that umbrella. Teachers control the admin functions unless they CHOOSE to release some of these to students. There are extensive controls, but the defaults come very close to being enough to get you started. We recommend playing with ONE sample student account and the teacher account to get everything set up before registering students, especially if your school has more restrictive policies. It is easier to start out with things "locked down" and loosen up than to go the other way.

See a full chart of features for 21Classes

Class Blogmeister

The Landmark Project provides this free space for teachers as part of their mission to “redefine literacy for the 21st Century.” The project is U.S.-based and run by David Warlick. To set up an account, the first person from your school must obtain a passcode. Use the Email David link at the top of the page to request the code, then share it with fellow teachers.

View a sample blog using this tool from a teacher in Arizona and read his comments in the full features chart.

Class blogmeister allows you to make a class blog with sub-blogs for each student, with student names on the side of the page. The tools are generally user-friendly. Overall, a visually cluttered but useful tool. See a full chart of features for Blogmeister..

Choose a tool to create your Gated* Blog
(* TeachersFirst’s term for blogging tools that allow teachers to control access and student use for safety reasons.)

As of October, 2007, these web-based tools were free for teachers to use. Roll over each tool at the left for a brief review and/or the full details.

or

Skip this step right now and read the rest of the step-by-step so I know what I am getting into.

 

Edublogs/Learnerblogs

Edublogs/Learnerblogs use WordPress, a very user friendly tool. They offer both edublogs (for the teachers—ad-free!) and learnerblogs for students to use. If you want a central class blog, use Edublogs. For individual student blogs, use Learnerblogs. Edublogs is extremely popular and can be slow in loading at times.

See a full chart of features for Edublogs/Learnerblogs.

Think.com

Think.com is an ad-free space for online collaboration, not a blog tool, per se. This tool is really designed for collaborative projects inside or between schools, such as epals, sharing writing, or whatever a teacher or partner organization dreams up. There is a complete organizational system for finding and sharing “projects” with other schools.

See a full chart of features for Think.com.

 

Blogger

Overall: A simple-to-use tool for those who do NOT need the full security of a fully-gated blog. Blogger is owned by Google. It is a tool available for free for the public and is not specifically designed or adapted for educational use. Blogger places small, text-based advertisements on your blog. A major drawback is the “next blog” button which invotes student curiosity and may bring up content inappropriate for school. This alone has caused many schools to block Blogger entirely.

The Google Educators forum offers some ideas for using gmail and Blogger with students.

See a full chart of features for Blogger

 

Gaggle

Gaggle is specifically designed as a “safe” email and blog tool for schools. Their content filters block objectionable content. Gaggle offers both free and paid student email and blog accounts. The free versions have advertising. The interface (look, feel, and how you find things) is utilitarian and lacks the more polished “look” of many blogs.

This tool has nearly every safety feature a school could ask for: filtering by word, filtering of images, complete controls of who can create, post, comment, and view blogs.

See a full chart of features for Gaggle