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Let's imagine you have something to say, and you want to reach a wide audience. There are a few things you could try.
You could yell really loud.
You could write it down.
Or you could create a blog.
But why a blog?
Well, it's free, it's easy to set up and to update, and you have control over the content.
And online, you have a potentially massive audience.
How do we set up a blog?
The good folks at Google provide a free service called Blogger.
Let's look at how we can use it.
So since this is a service offered by Google,
obviously the first thing you want to do is go to Google.com.
You see that as you type it in up here in the search field,
it completes automatically and your first option here in Google is the Blogger website.
And that's where you want to click.
And there is the first page of the Blogger application.
And you see on the right you will be prompted to sign in with your Google ID.
And if you don't have a Google ID, then you'll want to create one.
Once you start you will be prompted to do a few things to sign in.
You'll want to enter your e-mail address and your name,
and the display name is the name that will appear as the owner of the blog.
So you want to make up something that relates to the theme of your blog.
And there are a few other things you can select, but those are the important ones right there.
Here you see I've gone on to the next page.
I have chosen my display name to be Dr. Megaherz and gone to the dashboard of Blogger.
My e-mail address is up at the top.
And there are a few other options here but the one that you want to click on
to begin your blogging is obviously Create Your Blog Now.
Once you've clicked that button, you are taken to step two, where you name your blog.
I have given my blog the title "The Cabinet of Dr. Megaherz".
And then below that, you need to give your blog a URL.
So in the field between http and blogspot.com,
enter a URL that has some relation to the name of your blog and then click "Check Availability".
And you'll get a message below telling you whether that URL is available or not.
In this case, "cabinetofdrmegaherz" is available,
so next thing I'm going to do is click the Continue arrow.
Next, you create a post for your blog.
First, in the Title field, you give your post a title.
I've written "Welcome to the Cabinet of Dr. Megaherz".
And down in the text field below, I've written "There is no escape"
and that will be the content of my first blog posting.
And to put that in the blog and make it visible for your readers,
you click the Publish Post button down below the text field.
And this is what the post looks like after you publish it.
The title of my blog is up at the very top
and then within the box there is the title of my first post
and the content beneath it.
Places to post comments
And I've chosen a specific format for my blog here.
And as you get into the creation of your blog you can choose different
formats and templates to kind of configure the look of your blog.
That is something that you can change as you feel like it.
So, that is how you make a blog in Google Blogger.
Now let's talk a little about the role of blogs in education.
What can you as an educator do with a blog?
You can include students, parents, or other teachers as part of your audience
when you blog about your class.
You can post important information about coursework, calendar items,
updates, or information about individuals.
A blog written by a student has inherent educational value because
the student is responsible for conceiving, researching, and writing the content.
Of course, this being a learning experience, you as the instructor
would need to monitor such a blog in order to ensure that
the student’s posts showed evidence of learning.
Having your students find existing blogs and offer analysis of their contents
presents a chance for students to tap into sources of information
that extend beyond textbooks and more mainstream sources.
Part of the learning here is determining which information is valid and why.
Finally, blogging is a good way for students to learn how to be
both safe and civil on the Internet.
You can make sure students are well-versed in best practices
before starting them on their blogging, and then make sure everyone adheres to those practices.
Encouraging and even requiring positive comments and constructive criticism
in the classroom blog setting will hopefully impact the way students conduct
themselves online in general.
So, in conclusion, get those students blogging! You'll be glad you did.