Inset Discussion

Some really fantastic ideas came out of today's discussion. Thank you everyone for being so enthusiastic.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

BLOGGING FOR DEPARTMENTS:

BLOGGING FOR TEACHERS:

BLOGGING FOR STUDENTS:

What is a Blog?

“A weblog is a hierarchy of text, images, media objects and data, arranged chronologically, that can be viewed in an HTML browser.’’

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/whatmakesaweblogaweblog.html  

Blogs In Plain English

Why Blog?

• Blogging is an accessible, straightforward way of getting information, links, images, videos etc. online and can be as open access or restricted as you choose it to be. 
• It can be as “designed” or as simple as you choose it to be. It can be updated from anywhere with internet access and once set up it is very quick to use.  
• In a digital age, it is a format that students intuitively understand and respond to.  
• It is another tool that you can use.  And it’s free.

Blogging For Departments

• Creating a departmental blog is an excellent way of promoting the department. It can show work by students, share success stories and advertise upcoming events. You will have a unique and easy to remember web address that you can put on leaflets and link to from the website. 
• Within the department every teacher could have access and update it at regular intervals to spread the workload, making it a truly shared space. 
• Rather than being advertised, it could be a space purely for teachers to share good practice (updating with successful lessons or good examples of work)  
• Under supervision, students could run a blog for the department / subject.

Blogging For Teachers

• It’s a useful tool for setting work – you can easily include links, examples and update it at any time, so all students know what they’re doing. 
• It can become a forum for questions and answers – so if a lot of students have the same questions you’re not constantly answering them. 
• You can have separate blogs for different qualifications (AS/A2/EPQ/BTEC)

Blogging For Students

• It’s ideal for anything that requires a diary element (such as EPQ) or is a long term project. Students can quickly put in little snippets of information / links which will then be logged at a certain date. 
• They can update blogs at home and can check others (including yours) at any time they want. 
• By linking a group of students’ blogs together, they can see what each other is up to and you can easily dip in and out checking on their work when it’s convenient. It’s also useful if they’re doing group work.  
• Time needs to be given for students to set up blogs, and also for them to update them.  
• You can comment on their posts (should you want to!)  
• They can become part of a world wide community focused on your subject.