What, Who, Why, Where, and How of Elementary School Blogs

"a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer"

According to Wikipedia,

"a blog(a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoblog (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting)and are part of a wider network of social media."

Teachers will often start a blog for providing communication to students, parents, or other teachers. "When blogs are viewed as vehicles for dialogue, they bring a completely new meaning to the term blogging. They are no longer journal assignments; they are thoughtful discussions that extend well after a lesson ends (Utecht 2005) ." It is an excellent way to draw family members into what is happening in the school or classroom. A teacher can post assignments on the blog which can be a major benefit to students who are absent or for family members who wish to stay involved with what their children are working on. A blog can facilitate discussion, collaboration, and interaction between students within a classroom or from around the world. In addition, a classroom or school library blog makes it possible for family members to participate and share in school and classroom activities. A blog allows students to present work in a creative way which can lead to increased engagement in academic projects. Children are apt to take a great deal of pride in work that is posted in this format. Staff, students, and families benefit from the inclusion of a blog into the elementary school setting (Ray, 2006).

In addition a blog can be a great instructional tool for literacy. Utilizing a blog for storytelling, one of the first steps to literacy, can merge the technology of the modern world and this ancient medium of developing reading and language skills (Huffaker 2005). "The bottom line is that blogs have the power to drive inclusive dialogue that goes beyond physical boundaries, national boundaries, and boundaries of status. In so doing, they make learning 'real life'."(Utecht 2005).

This video, Why Let Students Blog?, from Teacher Tube was created by Rachel Boyd, a primary school teacher from Nelson, New Zealand. This video, through simple photos and few words, offers up the multitude of reasons why a blog is beneficial to children.

Technorati, an internet search engine for searching blogs, was equally disappointing in revealing large numbers of elementary school blogs.

So who are the elementary school bloggers and where are their sites? For confidentiality and security, schools may opt to have their blog hosted by services (see Where?) that require logins to view them. While this protected environment is understandable, it makes it difficult to determine the extent to which blogs are being used in the elementary school setting. One elementary school teacher involved in blogging, Cindy Blakely at Kindergarten Tales, when interviewed wrote that although her school district is the 2nd largest in the state of Illinois, very few teachers are involved in blogging. She continued on to say that, of those that do use this Web 2.0 tool, an even smaller number are from the elementary school setting. Flo McGee, a media specialist and president-elect of Florida Association for Computers in Education, said when interviewed, that it took a year for her and others to convince her Florida school district to allow blogging at one of the most secure hosting sites, Think.com. Neither of these educators could explain the reluctance of elementary schools to embrace blogging, but both of these pioneers are forging ahead to educate and encourage others.

Despite this, a few sites that are currently operational and available to view on the web, demonstrate the amazing work that can be done at the elementary school level with a classroom or library hosted blog. Some of these bloggers are as young as six years old. Kathy Cassidy's first grade students in Moosejaw, Canada are in collaboration with Kelly Schwichtenberg's first grade in Commerce City, Colorado. Cindy Blakely's kindergarten students in Chicago, Illinois are blogging buddies with Manaia Kindergartenin New Zealand. You can check out the data at Mr. Wright's 3rd grade math class to see how they counted m&m's with students around the world to determine which color m&m would appear in a bag the most often.