Rules for Blogging

Clearly, blogging can be a beneficial tool for our students/teachers/parents. However, it is important to have rules to follow when setting up and monitoring a blog.

1.) Begin simply. It can be overwhelming to try to do too many things at once. A lot of classroom blogs in the classroom began with the instructor using blogs to post class information such as lists of readings and assignment deadlines. Using a blog for something as simple as this gives teachers a chance to become familiar with the technology and gets students into the habit of regularly checking the online resource.

2.) Lead by example. Starting a blog and having students regularly check a blog will take time. Before requiring students to blog, teachers should lead by example, creating their own blogs and adding links to interesting resources and reflecting on class topics and discussion. This produces a useful source of additional information for students, and it creates a pattern and sets expectations for when students begin their own blogging.

3.) Read. Before we began our blog, we browsed through educational blogs and discussed what we liked and what we didn't. Before having students begin their blogging career, have them read other blogs. This can help demonstrate how other people use blogs to support learning and it also helps with critical thinking and reading skills. Besides posting a new entry, it is important for students to see how they should appropriately respond to blog posts. Depending on the type blog set up in your class, responding can be just as important as creating blog posts.

4.) Create a context. Some students have no problem free writing, but some students struggle without a prompt. Give students something specific to write about, at least in the beginning. Have students blog about a current issue, about a specific piece of writing, or some question that comes up in the course.

5.) Encourage interaction. Encourage students to read each others posts and to comment on them. Teachers should also offer comments, again setting an example of the expected practice.

6.) Address issues immediately. The most significant danger to students online is posed by other students. In particular, bullying is a significant problem. It is important to spot instances of bullying as soon as they occur and to take steps to prevent further incidents. Teachers should be monitoring blogs to make sure issues of bullying are not occurring.