Innovating with Technology

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Blogs

What is it?

A blog or web log is a website that has commentary (text), links, graphics and/or video added to it, usually about a particular issue or theme. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Traditional blogs are primarily textual, although some blogs include art, photos, videos, music and audio.

What does it look like?

Picture of a blog called Ping

Applications / use in Victorian schools

  • Blogging our Curriculum Vitae (Belvoir Special School, 2008) - New technologies were used to enhance the students' learning by providing alternative programmes and giving students with low literacy levels opportunities to achieve their VCAL goals. The project focussed on intellectually disabled students. As a result, students created a class blog and learned how to make posts, read comments, insert photos and create photo stories. Students developed individual blogs which became their online curriculum vitae, presenting a collection of their achievements and showcasing their work. See: Belvoir Bloggers
  • Middle P's Prattlings (Bellaire Primary School, 2006) - Using blogs, wikis and other read/write tools, John Pearce helps his Grade 3 and 4 students publish their work to the world.
  • Global Teacher Website - The Global Teacher project is a Victorian Education Channel and School Library Association of Victoria initiative created to provide a supported (and free) online environment, or digital playground, for teachers to explore weblogging and then introduce it to their students. See: Global Teacher
  • Ping (Hawkesdale P12 College; Haywood Secondary College; Casterton Secondary College; Casterton Primary School; Balmoral Secondary College, 2009) - An online music education project blog for schools in the Horsham and Swan Hill regions of Victoria. This distance education program uses virtual approaches to enhance young people’s involvement in music. Students develop their own music composition using professional guidance and recordings from Melbourne Symphony Orchestra musicians. See: Ping
  • Volcanoes (Hawkesdale Secondary College, 2008) - As part of this project, students created podcasts and Web 2.0 technologies, such as blogging, for researching and communicating with other teachers and students from around the world.