Looking for other ways to engage your students? Try blogging! Follow other blogs to get the hang of how it works and receive tech tips, advice and resources for your classroom.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Tip #2 – Start following blogs
What is a blog? Well, a blog is basically like an online journal where anyone can write anything and publish it online. It can be shared, commented on, changed and updated. Most blogs are published on a regular basis and follow a prescribed format, making it easy to follow and scan. Blogs are also usually short, meant to provide a snapshot of information. This is a blog! It is one person’s opinion, but posted online to be shared.
How do you follow a blog? Once you get started reading several different blogs and checking different websites everyday, it can get extremely overwhelming. Anyone who tries to keep up with work email as well as Facebook knows that juggling the amount of information and contacts can get confusing. And now I’m asking you to add in one more thing? Following blogs can take even less time than Facebook and email, if you find the format that works for you. I’m going to list three different options, feel free to try it out, or ask your friends how they do it.
- Bookmark websites—This is the easiest way for someone who is not yet too comfortable online. You should know how to bookmark a site (if not, watch this video). You can organize your bookmarks into folders (another video tutorial), and you can then bookmark blogs that you want to follow into a special folder. While this is the easiest way, it is also the least efficient way. Start with this, but as soon as you are comfortable, move on to the next method.
- Use an email or smartphone RSS reader—Another method that is still popular is using a RSS reader built into your email. Depending on which program you use for email, you likely have an RSS reader. It works like Google Reader, collating articles for you to read at your leisure. This works well, but is not necessarily available wherever you go, since it is built into your email software.
- Use a blog reader—I really like Google Reader. I have a Gmail account and love the Google apps that I get with my account. I also have a tablet and smartphone that can link to my Reader so I can curate the information anywhere I am. Google Reader basically saves the websites of all the blogs you want to follow and collates them all in one place. It will keep track of the entries you have read, and you can star as favourite articles that you want to return to. I go through my Google reader every other day, or while my daughter is in swimming lessons each week. In a very short time, I can scroll through a dozen or more blogs and star ones that I think are worth reading again or that have links I want to try out.
Top Blogs for Teachers to follow:
- Free Tech 4 Teachers—One of my faves! Great how-to lessons and innovative ideas for teachers using technology.
- Tech for Teachers—Well explained, annotated links to using new technology.
- Creative Education Daily—A daily dose of education and technology news for teachers.
- Box of Tricks—Exactly what it sounds like! A technology based ‘Box of Tricks’ for teachers.
- Classroom Teacher Blog—Tech products for education, explained, annotated and demonstrated. A great resource when you want to try something new.
* * * * *
Have you tried blogging? Why or why not? Are there some valuable blogs you follow that you would share with other educators? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Related:
Summer PD Series: Tech for Teachers #1 — Get Online!
How to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your School
Learning to Swim in the Information Age: A look at web 2.0 and social learning
10 Ways to Integrate Technology Into Education
How Schools are Exploring the Endless Potential of Social Media