Here on TeachingEnglish there are lots of posts about class blogs. Frankly speaking, it IS the website that encouraged me to try it with my students. Since then about a year has gone. So I have some tips which I descovered while searching for the best place for my class blog.

There are some things which you have to take into consideration if you wish to blog with your class:

• Students' age. Since they are under 13 they are not allowed to many of the blog-sites.
• Students' skills. Do they have any computer skills? If not, try something easier, for example e-mails exchanging.
• Parents' permission. You need to have the permission from parents to publish their kids' pictures and pictures of their works, such as drawings, podcasts.
• Advertisment. There are lots of ads in the Internet, of course;it's rubbish that we and our students don't need. We need to find a safe and cosy place for us.
• Simplicity. I mean for the interface. Students may get lost in some dashboards and feeds. Everything should be rather plain in order for kids not to feel confused.
• Payment. As for me, I prefer free blog-platforms. 

 

So far I have checked some websites I want to share them with you with some comments.

• blogger.com by Google. Great thing ecxept for ads and age-allowance. There you can have a collective blog - add authors and editors. As an administrator moderate comments. Lately they improved the design (it's more like Google+ now), so I'm thinking of posting there. But as for kids, I would not create their accounts there because of ads and some inappropriate content.
• edublogs.org. It is made especially for schools and almost has no ads, except for educational (of schools and universities). There three types of subscriptions. It seems to me that free is enough. But still I need students' emails to create their individual blogs. If not so, tell me how to do it without emails. Still it is difficult for me in case of interface of the dashboard.
• education.weebly.com. It has an option to create students' accounts WITHOUT email addresses! It's completely ad-free. But it's difficult to have a collective blog there. I use this platform to create my own website for 5 graders with my own blog as an example for them. Each student of the class has his/her own site with a blog page. Besides, there are lots of themes and fully cusomiseble templates, simple for students. There's also a pro-version, but I think free is enough.
• edmodo.com. It looks like Facebook. It has no ads. It is only for students and teachers. As a teacher you can create a group and give your students and their parents a group code to log in the site without e-mail addresses. There's an option for uploading tests or creating on-line quizes and tests. When a student fininsh a task, you put a mark, thus it can also be used as a class register. Also it can be used for blogging for a group chosen. As a disadvantage I may consider dissability to change the design.
• pbworks.com. This is a wiki-platform. I suppose students can have a collective blog there also. On this wiki there's a subscription for education, thus you may register your students without e-mails. Also the wiki is convenient for course management. Its text editor is simple and looks like MSWord. To my mind this platform is good for teenagers.

What do you think about when choosing a platform for your class blog? What platform do you prefer for class blogging? Please share your thoughts with me, as I'm still searching for a cosy and safe place for my students and me.

 

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