What is a blog?
Blogs are web pages created by individuals or groups and stored on the internet. They usually include text and images. Blogs are an ideal space to write about your ideas and opinions. Blogs are often used like an online diary, giving regular updates on what’s happening. When you add something on a blog, it’s called a ‘post’.
A blog can be open for anyone to see or you can limit access by using private settings and passwords.
How blogs are used in school
Blogs can be used across the curriculum and for out-of-school activities. For example:
• in literacy, students can work together to produce an online school magazine
• in geography, students can keep a diary about a field trip
• in science, students can record results of an ongoing experiment.
Schools also use blogs to keep in touch with parents. Parents can log onto the school’s secure blog for information about important events and news, such as a parents evening or school closure. Blogs are ideal for keeping parents informed about what their children are doing on a school trip. They can see pictures, read updates and send messages.
“[Blogging] allows parents to see what their children are doing.” Acton High School
Benefits of blogs
Blogs are becoming more popular with teachers and pupils for a number of reasons:
• Blogs are really easy to create and publish.
• Pupils can reflect on their own learning and give and receive feedback.
• They encourage peer-group collaboration and discussion.
• They teach pupils to express and defend their ideas and opinions with a real audience.
• Pupils can use blogs to develop a topic of interest.
They also allow teachers to explain difficult concepts pupils may not have grasped in class. A teacher can offer support and guidance while the learner can ask further questions.
Blogs in practice
Clunbury CofE Primary School is a small rural school that uses technology in a big way. Pupils use the school’s award-winning web blog to review and assess work. Teachers and parents have their own online forums, too.
