EduBlog Insights

Here are some of us  enjoying lunch after an “information-filled” meeting with the participants in the grant for the Georgia Educators and NECC2003 grant.  Welcomes, introductions, NSF Grant Overview, Travel Review, and weblog orientation & practice were all on the agenda.  What a great group we have!  They were excited about the weblogs. They posted short bio’s so take a look! We tried to keep the weblogging tutorial simple to stick to the basics as there was much to absorb today.  This GCATT group works hard to meet the needs of Georgia educators!

Weblogging Tutorial

NSF - NECC 2003

Weblogging Tutorial

Project Weblog Address:  http://anvil.gsu.edu/necc2003/

What is a Weblog?

Weblogs are spaces on the web where you can write and post about a topic or several topics.  Unlike traditional websites, they provide instant, type-n-click publishing that can be done anywhere, anytime and from any browser.  And, the best thing about weblogs is that they encourage discussion and interaction from many participants, not just a select few.    Weblogs are sometimes referred to as “blogs” and the act of posting to a weblog is often called “blogging”.  In educational circles, they are frequently referred to as “EduBlogs” or “Schoolblogs”

Sample Weblogs

Edublog Insights:   http://anne2.teachesme.com/

NewsQuest:    http://anvil.gsu.edu/NewsQuest

Lindsay G.’s Lounge:   http://anvil.gsu.edu/LindsayG/

Student Blog’etin:  http://www.bayareawritingproject.org/mlkDailyBlogetin/

B-villeblog/AnElementaryWeblog:  http://manila.cet.middlebury.edu/bvilleblog/

Weblogg-ed Vol 2:  Using Weblogs in Education: http://www.weblogg-ed.com

Step-by-Step “Blogging”

A.  Creating a News Item

1. Go to http://anvil.gsu.edu/necc2003.

2. Click on  “NECC 2003 Notes  - Delegation Journals & Discussion” located on the left navigation bar.

3. a)   Login to the site by clicking the  “Login”  text at the bottom right corner.
   b)       Type your e-mail and password in the boxes provided.
   c)       Click the “Login” box.

4. Click “News” on the  “Editors Only” menu located near the top of the page.  A  “‘PENDING NEWS ITEMS”  screen will appear.

5. Click  “Create a News Item”  located on the left of the screen.  A  “CREATE NEWS ITEM”  screen will appear.

6. a)   Fill in the  “Title”  of your item and its associated  “URL” .  (Leave the URL blank if you don’t have one.)
   b)       Select the associated  ”Department”  from the drop down menu.
   c)       Type your news note in the “Description”  text box.

*** PRECAUTION:  At this point, it is encouraged that you highlight all of your text and then press the “Ctrl”  and “C” keys simultaneously to copy your text to the computer’s clipboard. 

Sometimes the news items do not transmit and this action will save you from having to retype your text.

1. Click the  “Create News Item”  box.  A preview screen of your news item will appear.

     8.        a)   If your text does not appear, paste your clipboard text by clicking the cursor into the  “Description”  text box and then pressing the “Ctrl”and “V” keys simultaneously.

      b)   Proof your text.

•          If you need to make changes, make them in the “Description” text box and click the “Post Changes” box.

•          If it does not need editing, click the “Release” box and then click the “Post to Home Page” box.

1. Click “Home” on right side of page to return to main page.

B.  Adding a Comment to a News Post

1. Click on the “Comment” button below the News Item. A “comments”  pop-up window will appear.

2. Type your comment in the “Comment”text box.

3. Click the “Submit” box.

4. Close the “comments” pop-up window.

Emily and Jennifer created their summer blogs today!  They have their first posts up.  Names have to be created, emails worked out, and other beginning details but we’re off and running.  The Back & Forth weblog is our communication hub.  The t2s weblog (teacher to student) will be my place for suggested writing prompts about good web sites that they can use if they choose.  (I think they might even have better ideas!)

Their parents even brought in nice letters for me today where they expressed their feelings about the student weblog group.

Here are some excerpts from the letters..

Emily’s parents kindly wrote the following:

Emily’s creative writing skills were stretched to new levels.  She was excited each week to do her assignment and encouraged to keep up with current events in this process.  Weblogs has helped Emily to be a better critical thinker and a global thinker as well.  We were very excited about working with Weblogs this summer.

Jennifer’s parents sent these warm remarks:

Our daughter, Jennifer, had a wonderful time in your class this past year.  She has benefited greatly.  Her interest in reading and writing has increased.  We believe her skills in communications have improved.  She enjoyed being in the class and working with the other students.  She has shown a greater interest in current events and she is expressing her opinions, especially at home!

I would have to say back to the parents how much I have enjoyed working with your children- they are terrific!  Weblogs allow you to take a journey where the teacher is learning right along with the kids and I believe we’re both the better for it!

Yesterday Kelly, Tim, and I met to set up the weblog for our grant participants to post news items on while at NECC.  After lots of brainstorming ideas about “how-to” organize so that we could have a weblog that would encourage participation from many, not just a few, this is what we decided.  We are going to use this one weblog with Departments from the Theme & Program Strands at NECC.  We added a General Department and a Heads Up Department to cover miscellaneous items.  We will be making all the participants Contributing Editors.  We’ll have a link for the main NECC grant weblog to this one.  We want to keep this very simple because we have a mixture of pre-service and in-service teachers plus faculty members, all with probably very little knowledge of weblogs.  We want this first intro to be fun and pose possibilities for them! 

We talked about creating some topics such as Exhibits, Seattle,  and Sharing (like AHa’s).  If anybody has any ideas to share for Topics or any other thoughts, let us know today or tomorrow. I have not used the New Topic area much, so if anyone has some insights to share, we would welcome them!  We have one hour to train them Friday! 

The more I look at the possibilities for this grant, the more I like it!

I got to know my students (and they me) better in this online class than I ever have in my face to face classes. All that interacting (email, commuity weblog, individual blogsites) we did made me much more approachable to them, both when we were on the class website and via email. And the ones who blogged about their regular lives on their individual blogsites…I felt like I really got to know everyone.

The way blogging promoted friendship  between classmates in ways they “hadn’t been brave enough to hope for when we were planning the course” was discussed.

The professor also noted some of the difficulties experienced by students:

On the flip side of this, some students had trouble making their first papers flow and be properly linear because they were pulling material straight from their blogs. Making the transition from blogging to traditional paper actually, in retrospect, seemed more difficult for students than the transition from traditional paper writing to hypertext writing. In the future, I might skip the traditional paper altogether and ask students to write all of their major assignments in hypertext. This makes sense too, because all of the writing students did for the class (except that traditional paper) was for the web.

The tripod blog is for paying subscribers only. They have a feature called “Blog Buddy Page” which lets you create a page that displays the entries of your friends’ blogs. They also have community blogs that are shared so multiple authors can post to the blog. Their BLOG FAQ was interesting to read.

This coming Thursday I have a meeting scheduled with 4 students, their parents, and the principal of  J. H. House Elementary school where I piloted the NewsQuest project.  We will be exploring possibilities for “Summer Blogs”. 

Also, on the horizon in a week or so is a group of counselors who may be interested in  learning how to blog.  First, I have to teach the professor.  I am really glad that she is interested in learning about this technology before we introduce it in a class session.  Lots of time (due to LACK of time) this does not happen, but that’s the ideal we strive for.

Tomorrow Tim and I hope to meet with Kelly from GCATT to plan for Friday’s meeting about the grant.

All that plus the summer session starting up today promises lots of learning and avenues to explore. 

Wow!  I saw the blogshop: Weblog Workshop on the Maricopa Learning eXchange (MLX) this morning.  This is terrific !  It was created for use at the June 2003 electronic Portfolio Summer Institute (ePSI) at Chandler-Gilbert Community Office.  use at the June 2003 electronic Portfolio Summer Institute (ePSI) at Chandler-Gilbert Communtiy College. 
Here is the workshop blurb:

This online workshop on “blogging” (hence “blogshop”) was designed to introduce faculty to the world of weblogs and to provide them basic steps for creating their own blog using MovableType.

Also on the site is a description of their wonderful resources:

The Maricopa Learning eXchange (MLX) is an electronic warehouse of ideas, examples, and resources (represented as “packages”) that support student learning at the Maricopa Community Colleges.

I love these packages!  I will need to carve out some time this morning to browse further.  The site further explains their concept of packages….

What exactly is a package? Just as learning is a concept that defies quantifying,  so are examples of learning. That is why we represent them as mysterious wrapped packages, ranging from as small as a spreadsheet activity designed for a chemistry lab exercise to a complete faculty development program. Simply put, the criteria for a package is anything from Maricopa created for or applied to student learning.

Alright!  I am off to get lost in this wonderful warehouse….  Thanks Maricopa!

Yesterday I received an invitation from Lisa Griffin to accompany their delegation to NECC.  This is the group of educators that Tim and I have been talking about.  The group includes 2 pre-service teachers,  2 in-service teachers, and  1 higher education faculty member from each university.  Groups will be coming from Georgia State, Albany State, Columbus State, Fort Valley State, Kennesaw State, and Valdosta State!  The attendees will be attending the NECC sessions and blogging about what they learn! We’ll meet as a group each day.  I will be working with them as the instructional technologist!  I think this is a great project and I am glad to be helping in this way. I love grants like this that actually empower teachers to be a part of the learning process about technology.  What a great opportunity for all! 

Plus I will get to meet face-to-face with my weblog cohorts - that will really be special.  I can’t wait!

The summer issue of The Intel Innovator is going to spotlight How Educators Are Using Weblogs. Pam Pritchard, Helen Turnbull, Will Richardson, and myself will be featured in late June on “Day 300″ through “Day 304″

Highlights from the article:

Four teachers who are using a new Web publishing technology to motivate students, build online collaboration, and enhance learning opportunities share their stories in a special series scheduled to launch in late June on An Innovation Odyssey, a feature of the Intel® Innovation in Education Web site. Look for these stories in late June on “Day 300″ through “Day 304.”

The article goes on to say….

The stories will show, by example, how teachers can set up weblogs that help meet learning goals. Each story also includes links to examples of student and teacher weblogs. In addition, in the coming months Intel Innovation in Education will be creating new online resources for teachers who want to learn more about using weblogs. Educators interested in this emerging technology can watch for resources that will address how to use weblogs effectively in the classroom, where to find free space for hosting a site, and how to gain access to other useful resources. Watch for details on the Web site (www.intel.com/education), or subscribe to The Intel® Innovator for free updates.

I keep searching for more weblogs that are actually used as a writing/content area by teachers with students.  I keep thinking about “student voices”. We need to get them to more a part of this process.  This summer I am going to try a project with 3 or 4 of my students from the NewsQuest group.  It is going to be a sort of unstructured or semi-structured journey that will foster writing, reflecting, and thinking.  I have already asked the students if they would be interested in doing this over the summer.  They were!  My initial thinking is to let each student create a personal weblog that will be on a topic/topics of their choice. I’m also thinking of a group EduBlog that I will sort of lead - probably throwing out simple prompts or maybe even a few thought provoking questions to see where it leads.  I am going to create an additional weblog that will be called Back & Forth that will be just for communication between myself and the kids for questions they want answered, ideas they have, my thought, their thoughts, etc.  These thoughts can be totally unrelated to the other EduBlogs.  Next week I will meet with the parents and students.  All of the above could change based on their input. 

Now here is the kicker, I am going to see if I can do this without physically meeting with the students. This may work, but again it may all be changed as we go along.  Summer is short and there may not be time to do all I am thinking about but it’s a start.   If I can learn from this and make it work- I can think of a lot of possibilities. Any suggestions, thoughts out there?