Tech Tips Newsletter - Why Learners Should Know How to Blog

Editor: Karen Franker
In this Section

The Power of Using Blogs

This newsletter features educators’ perspectives and experiences on the power of using blogs with learners at all levels. Explore our list of best professional development blogs for instructional designers, online educators, reading instructors and more.

Strategies for Blog-Powered Instruction 
Jennifer Demski shares comments from three blog-savvy educators about blogs’ unique strengths in fostering learning through an open exchange of ideas which authenticates each student’s voice.

A Rubric for Evaluating Student Blogs 
Use Karen Franker’s blog rubric to evaluate content, voice, organization and seven other criteria.

Learning about Blogs FOR Your Students 
Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano continues her excellent “Stepping it Up: Learning About Blogs FOR your Students” series. Part VII focuses on how to define and assess quality blog posts. Numerous resources and rubrics are included.

Blogs as Web-Based Portfolios Part 1
Blogs as Web-Based Portfolios Part 2
Jeff Utecht describes how to create Web-Based Portfolios as a way to showcase and assess students' work and document their learning over time.

Blogging With Students: Why Get Them Blogging? 
Jason Renshaw presents the top five reasons to make blogging a part of the literacy curriculum including: helping students rethink how to create a positive digital footprint and showcasing individual students’ strengths.

10 Reasons You Should Get Your Class Blogging 
Pooky Hesmondhalgh lists her top ten benefits of student blogging including: fostering parental involvement, facilitating collaborative work, and providing powerful and immediate peer feedback and assessment.

Why Students Should Blog 
Pernille Ripp gives a classroom teacher’s perspective of the top ten benefits she has seen in using blogs with her elementary students such as: student voice, transparency, and global citizenship.

Students as Blog Leaders 
Chris Kennedy explains his perspective on the energy and enthusiasm generated by student blogging, and shares student examples from grades four through seven.

7 Things You Should Know About WordPress (PDF file) 
This latest addition to the Educause “7 Things” series explores the teaching and learning impact of blogs in higher education, including who is using blogs and why institutions have selected WordPress as their preferred blogging application.

Best Blogs for Professional Development

The Edublog 2011 Awards 
A “not to be missed” listing of the best educational blogs for 2011 in categories such as: best teacher blog, most influential blog post, and best new blog. 

Best Blogs for Instructional Designers
Tom Kuhlman's Rapid E-learning Blog

Jane Hart's  C4LPT Blog

Cammy Bean’s Learning Visions 

Christy Tucker's - Experiencing E-Learning 

Cathy Moore's Let's Save the World from Boring e-Learning 


Best Blogs for Online Educators
50 Best Blogs for Online Educators 

Dennis O'Connor's - E-Learning and Online Teaching Scoop.it Daily News 

eLearning Learning Daily News 


Best Blogs for Math Teachers
Top 25 Blogs for Math in the Classroom 


Best Blogs for Teacher Librarians
Never-Ending Search


Best Blogs for Educational Technologists
Kathy’s Ed Tech Blog Picks 

Free Technology for Teachers 

Tech Tip: How to Sync Your Bookmarks from Your Computer to Your Smartphone

Whitson Gordon describes two methods of syncing your Web browser’s bookmarks with any smartphone. Method 1 uses the XMarks mobile Web page; Method 2 uses bookmark syncing apps.