Blogs_Wikis_and_CE9

=**Blogs, Wikis, and CE9 **=

toc =Overview=

The Switch
FrontPage is no longer supported, and it was the main tool we used for CyberEnglish9 (CE), which in the past meant student generated websites on which they published their work. See more on CE. We also want to be more in tune with Web 2.0 tools. With blogs students will still be able to publish work for a public (real) audience, but with the ability to make comments, their audience can be interactive. Audience is teacher, parents, other adults (such as mentors), and peers. Peer review can really be transparent with blogs.

Meeting national standards

 * ISTE standards for students

Concerns
Meeting educational needs and balancing security issues is a main concern.

Our guide
We want to use this switch as a means to expand our opportunity to teach students about what it means to be responsible Web content generators, knowing that they already do create content outside of school.
 * Develop a guide for students' responsible behavior on Internet
 * No last names on blogs
 * Same rules as would apply to websites
 * See list of limitations.
 * What will the students' blog privileges be?
 * Edit pages (once published, they cannot be revised)
 * Edit posts (once published, they cannot be revised)
 * Manage links
 * Read
 * Switch themes
 * Upload files
 * Manage categories
 * What will the content be? Specific Requirements for CE9 blogs
 * Pages needed: 1) About Me (for personal statement), and pages for essays
 * Regular posts would be about the following:
 * CyberJournal
 * Independent reading
 * Responses to questions asked by teachers
 * General Blog posts on topics of interest to students

Teaching Blog Management to Students
Please visit our Lesson Outline

=Managing WordPress MU= We downloaded WordPress MU on a separate server to host student blogs and kept it "in house" while setting things up and testing. Numerous plugins were required to make MU function the way we needed it to.

Creating student blogs

 * information from Edublogs

Set up Protocol
Create Blog:
 * Blog address: student login
 * Blog title: student login
 * Admin email: student's email

Backend: Under capabilities: Change discussion settings to Go to Manage Collaboration Emails Go to blogs, click on site address:
 * Change role to Contributor and then
 * Edit capabilities:
 * Uncheck "delete posts"
 * Check the following:
 * Edit pages
 * Edit posts
 * Manage links
 * Read
 * Switch themes
 * Upload files
 * Manage categories
 * Comments must be approved by administrator
 * Uncheck comment author must have previously approved comment
 * choose other and add teacher email, update
 * change role to contributor
 * assign password



Plugins we used:

 * Capability manager

User Roles
The image below is from the Edublogs site, from the Differences of user roles page.



=List of Resource Links=

Pedagogy

 * [[file:Reflections on Using Blogs to Expand In-Class Discussions.pdf]]
 * Linkin' (B)logs: A New Literacy of Hyperlinks, by Tiffany J. Hunt and Bud Hunt
 * Educational Blogging

Internet Responsibility

 * [|Keeping Student Cybersafe]
 * Sample Blogging Letter from Bud Hunt
 * Mr. Lane's Tips on Commenting
 * Blogging Terms and Conditions from Nancy Bosch (This page also has student blogs listed)

Blogs on Blogging, etc.

 * Anne Davis
 * BGSU's MU site (disclaimer)