Many schools have guidelines for using blogs in the classroom. I know my county only allows us to use www.edublogs.com, after we have taken a class to prepare us for use in the classroom. It is also worthwhile to look into your school’s acceptable use policy (AUP) and explain the policies with your students. The AUP should explain the terms and guidelines for students using the computers and the internet in your school. It should lay out what acceptable use of the computer/internet means and what it should look like. At my school, it is required that you have parental permission before you allow your students on the classroom blog.
Before you use the blog in your classroom, you should teach your students the importance of carefully considering the content of their post. Students should be taught safe, acceptable, and sensible behavior as online readers and authors. It should be stated that the blog is still a classroom, therefore, expectations of tone, respect, and consequences should be put in place. It is important that students know that content should be viewed as an opinion and therefore, it may not be factual information. Students and parents should also be aware of the privacy and security issues within your classroom blog.
Edublogs and Blogger are two blogging tools that are easy to use. As I said before, check with your administrator to ensure that you are able to use a blog in your classroom before you begin.
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