Creating a Classroom Blog

One of the most beneficial steps for beginning the transformation of a classrooom is the creation and regular use of a classroom blog. It's ideal for showcasing student work and providing extra information about everything from homework to classroom projects. Parents can subscribe to alerts so that they are informed of new posts or updates. Further down the line the blog can also be used to allow moderated discussion controlled by you of course. In the first instance you'll want to keep things simple and couple short passages of text illustrated with an appropriate image. Before going any further it's worth considering some common sense safety points. Let parents know what's happening through an information sheet and ask permission for including their children in class photos. It's usually reasonable to do this so long as full names aren't posted or other sensitive information such as times and meeting places for example for school trips. If there is any concern about the posting of student images then they can be restricted to student work or similarly unsensitive items. Although I like Wordpress I'd recommend Google's Blogger since it allows the posting of videos and a single account allows single sign in access to a whole range of transformative classroom technology tools.

Creating a Google Account

A great starting point for teachers looking to integrate technology into their classrooms is the creation of a Google account. A single username and password will give access to a broad range of tools useful in transforming classrooms into engaging collaborative learning environments. Highlights include but are not restricted to sharing almost any file and type of media, setting up a classroom blog which supports discussion and feedback, creating documents including spreadsheets and presentations which can be shared and edited collaboratively much like a Wiki can. For anything more sophisticated than a blog then Google Sites allows websites to be created which can be organised in a more structured format than is possible with a blog. Google Forms allows for surveys and questionnaires with automatic analysis and presentation of results. Discussion forums are also possible together with creative options such as image creation via Picnik 3D modeling via Sketch up and even programming via Google App inventor for Android. Not to say that everything revolves around Google but a small investment of time and effort opens up a wide range of options which are already familar and easily accessible to the students in your class. Share video clips. To sum up here's a list of top classroom technology tools for which there will soon follow Classroom Technology Clips to get you started

1. Blogger- Create a classroom blog.

2. Docs- Create and share documents and presentations.

3. Youtube-  Share and now edit video clips of demonstrations.

4. Forms - Create surveys and questionnaires.

5. Custom Search - Make a classroom search engine.

6. Sketchup - Make 3D models of objectsandbuildings.

7. App Inventor - Simple programming.