We know that many Edublogs users have already shared the platform with colleagues during staff meetings, team discussions, or professional development sessions.

Some educators also like to give parents an overview of Edublogs during parent information evenings or school council meetings.

To make it easier for teachers to share the power of Edublogs with others, we’ve put together some resources.

Overview Presentation

This overview of Edublogs can be viewed as a Google Slides presentation or as a PDF. 

It goes through:

• What is Edublogs?
• The benefits of using Edublogs
• How to get started with Edublogs
• Example blogs from different age groups and settings
• How to learn more

>>Download the PDF here

>>Make a copy of the Google Slides presentation here

Printable PDF

This two page document explains Edublogs in a nutshell and goes through some frequently asked questions.

Distribute it to staff or share it with parents.

>> Download the PDF here

You’ll also find these resources on our Blogging 101 page.

Anyone Can Publish Online

When many educators and parents were at school, publishing online was either impossible or reserved for the very tech savvy. It’s now easier than ever to claim your own space on the web!

Edublogs uses a customized version of WordPress which gives you the scope to either stick to the basics, or create a highly personalized site to share with the world.

Edublogs offers you flexibility beyond blogging. You can:

• Set up a blog in a traditional way (i.e. regular posts showing up in reverse chronological order)
• Create a more static website
• Include a mixture of blog and website
• Develop a resource portal
• Work on a digital portfolio
• Develop any other kind of online space that interests you

Whatever stage you’re at or whatever sort of site you’re working on, our support team is just an email away — 24/7. So you’re never alone on your blogging journey!

Questions? Comments?

If you have any questions about Edublogs, please do get in touch.

Any suggestions for other resources that would help you learn more about Edublogs or introduce it to others? Be sure to let us know.

You Might Also Enjoy Reading…

• 10 Examples Of Great Class Blogs
• 10 Great Schools Websites Built With WordPress
• 6 Tools To Create Interactive Learning Content On Your Blog
• Why WordPress Is The Best Choice For Student Blogging

This week, students around the world are participating in ‘Hour of Code‘ as part of Computer Science Education Week (December 3-8).

Learning to code can be life changing for students which is why I’d like to introduce you to our colleague who is an inspirational young coder.

17-year-old Alex is blind and is in his final year of high school. He is an outstanding self-taught coder and a highly valued member of the Edublogs team.

Alex became vision impaired during 9th grade and lost most of his sight within 6 months.

We invited Alex to share his story for the Student Blogging Challenge. We’re cross-posting it here as it is proving to be very fascinating and inspiring for teachers and students alike.

Over to Alex…

My name is Alex and I work as an accessibility developer and system administrator for Incsub which is the company behind Edublogs.

I started here at Incsub in May 2017 just days after I turned sixteen years old. I go to school in the day and work in the night.

Although this job can be demanding, I always love the challenge it offers me day by day.

Alex’s role with the company

One of my main roles is to ensure all servers are running properly and respond when automation fails. Basically, I make sure we stay online.

I have helped with building infrastructure components and hosting. This means I built the parts that make our servers work to host our sites and helped with moving networks of websites to our servers.

My other working time is spent ensuring all Incsub sites (including Edublogs, CampusPress and WPMU DEV) stay completely accessible to visually impaired users who rely on screen reading technology. A screen reader reads aloud the screen for people who can’t see or have other limitations.

This screen reader demo for digital accessibility video shows how a screen reader works and the importance of accessibility for the visually impaired.

Alex’s blindness

Although some would see visual impairment as something you can’t live with, I assure you it’s very possible.

When I first started at Incsub I was hired to provide live chat support for WPMU DEV (a WordPress company that’s part of Incsub). That would later translate into becoming an accessibility developer. (Developer is another word for coder or programmer).

I study our company sites weekly to ensure they are accessible to everyone. The sad news is most sites are not. Just because I cannot see very much, I cannot use a lot of websites.

Now I get to work every day to ensure all sites are accessible within Incsub as everyone deserves the same opportunity for accessing the web.

Below is a picture of me at a WordCamp event last year (that’s a WordPress conference. WordPress is the software that powers 30% of the web including Edublogs and CampusPress). I’m wearing the yellow and black hoodie.

Thanks all the people who were at the #a11y table of the #WCUS contributor day!
Especially @jdelia and Katherine White for testing Gutenberg for a full day.
And a big shoutout to Alex Stine, a 16 yr old web dev that helps with coding and testing with NVDA. pic.twitter.com/2pNT6ficIS

— Rian (@RianRietveld) December 4, 2017

Here is a picture of me at the 2018 WordCamp pictured with James Farmer (left), Ronnie Burt (right) and the WPMU DEV mascot.

How Alex learned to code

Learning to code wasn’t all that challenging. I first started learning basic HTML in the 7th grade. It just took off from there.

I found WordPress, signed up for web hosting, and started learning the ways of web development.

It wasn’t until I started to code for accessibility development here that I really learned more of the advanced coding languages. I have taught myself HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, React JS, PHP, and Shell.

Moving on from accessibility development, I ran into system administration (upkeeping and configuring servers). I started learning with a company called Linux Academy. It’s an online program that allows you to learn Linux concepts, Cloud basics, Docker, and a whole host of other subjects.

I’m still very much in the practice stages but getting better every day. It’s cool what you can do with servers and don’t let your disability stand in your way.

A coding career

It is very important to me that the younger audiences get involved with coding. Without the younger generation, the sharing of information starts to drop. We need to keep this open sharing idea around. That way, everyone can learn from each other. It is truly the sharing of information that makes everyone smarter.

Getting the young involved in technology should increase the chance of them finding a really good paying job in the future, after graduation.

This video shows us how computer science is improving so many areas of our life.

More About Alex

Students taking part in the Student Blogging Challenge were invited to ask Alex a question. There was an overwhelming response and Alex has answered many questions about coding, using a computer, and his blindness in this post. 

About Hour of Code

Hour of Code is designed to introduce young people worldwide to the basics of coding and computer science through one-hour coding activities.

While these activities are promoted during Computer Science Education Week, they can be done at any time throughout the year.

Over to You!

As Alex has demonstrated, there are no barriers to forging a successful career in coding. His skills help to keep blogs and websites in schools around the world running smoothly.

Any comments or questions? Scroll down to find the comment box.

Blogging from your phone or tablet can be useful, for sure. We love seeing students documenting trips and projects as they happen and being able to upload that content immediately to their blogs. Teachers are able to moderate comments or keep tabs on students’ posts from anywhere.

Before digging into more about moible blogging, we wanted to share that you will no longer find the ‘Edublogs’ apps in the iOS or Android app stores. The good news is that the mobile browser experience is better than ever, and you have several options to meet your mobile blogging needs.

For those of you who may miss the app, we discuss our reasons for removing them from the app stores in more detail at the end of this post.

The Browser Experience

Our recommended way to post to your blog from your device is to use a browser. No app needed!

Simply enter your blog URL in the address bar, login, and off you go. You’ll find the same dashboard that you are used to, but in a size and form that works on any screen size.

This is our preferred method for several reasons. First, it is the same experience as on a desktop, meaning no extra time needed to familiarize students with the app experience. Also, updates happen immediately for all devices – no need to wait for app updates to have the latest tools.

Everything in the mobile browser will be the same as the desktop experience: editing and publishing posts, uploading media, changing themes, and activating plugins.

Our CampusPress customers, who often use services like Google or Shibboleth for Single Sign On will find their logins work seamlessly in the browser – something not possible with most mobile apps.

Tip: Save Your Blog To Your Home Screen

Even better than just using the browser on your mobile device is saving your blog to the home screen. This is a quick and easy trick that will let you add an icon that looks just like all other apps on your device. Tapping your icon will take you directly to the login screen for your blog.

We put together a detailed guide that you can save or print out to help with blogging from your browser and saving to your home screen. Download the PDF guide here.

Mobile Apps

For those that still prefer a more native app experience, there are other options for mobile apps besides the old Edublogs apps too.

Edublogs and CampusPress networks are built on the open source project called WordPress. You will find a free WordPress app in both the iOS app store and in Google Play.

The only trick is that you’ll need to know the full URL of your blog and enter it after installing the app. There is a ton of great information on the apps here.

To help, here’s a quick guide on how the WordPress app works!

Post By Email

Did you know that it was also possible to simply send an email to a secret email address, and it will automatically publish to your blog?

Many teachers use this method to have their students post to a class blog. All it requires is setting up the Jetpack plugin and having a WordPress.com account – which powers the Post By Email tool.

Here’s a one page cheat sheet to make setting it all up easy.

What About The Edublogs Apps?

It wasn’t an easy decision to stop work on the Edublogs apps, which have been around for over 5 years and used on tens of thousands of devices. But there are quite a few reasons why we have reached this conclusion.

First, with the various ages of devices in use and the differing versions of operating systems across them, it has become nearly impossible to support them all. For good reason (they aren’t cheap!), schools tend to use devices for longer than the manufacturer (particularly true with Apple) intended.

Second, we originally built the Edublogs mobile apps off of the free and open-sourced WordPress apps – which are actively contributed to by multiple companies and a massive community. They get updates regularly, and there is no way that we can keep up with that work – especially given that the WordPress app is also free and works quite well for most.

Lastly, the browser experience continues to improve considerably, and we believe that it is now the most complete and easy to use way to blog from a mobile device. And with the trends changing such that more schools are adopting devices like Chromebooks and laptops, and not tablets, we’ve seen the use of mobile apps generally to be on a steady decline. It makes the most sense for us to put all of our resources into improving the browser experience for all sizes of devices, and leave the apps to others.

We know that this decision may be disappointing for some, and we welcome all feedback and your questions. Leave a comment below, or reach out to us directly at edublogs.org/contact.

The Complete PDF Help Guide

If you’d like our new Mobile Blogging Help Guides in one handy ebook, you can download the PDF below.

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Happy blogging!

Hurricane Harvey and the ongoing flooding in Texas and Louisiana has hit close to home for several of us here at Edublogs. Our thoughts are with those still dealing with the aftermath of the storm and we feel deeply for the loss, pain, anxiety, and hardship the storm has caused.

If there is a bright side to it all, we are heartened by the acts of kindness, the selfless hard work, and the “all in it together” attitude we are witnessing. We couldn’t be more proud to see public school districts already enrolling evacuees (and making registering easier) into their schools, and that Houston ISD will be able to provide 3 free meals to all students for the rest of the school year.

The storms have impacted well over 1 million students in hundreds of school districts. For many students (and teachers), schools will be the only sense of normalcy and routine for quite a while. Educators and school systems will be taking on an even greater responsibility in the overall well-being of students. And they’ll be doing all of this while some schools themselves have taken on significant damage and may not be able to open for a lengthy amount of time as well. The impact is far too wide.

In hopes that it is helpful, even in some small way, we’ve compiled a list of links and resources for those affected and also those looking to provide support to those in need. Please leave a comment below if you know of anything we should add.

• The Best Ways To Help Victims Of Hurricane Harvey – Larry Ferlazzo
• Hurrican Harvey Relief Fund – Donors Choose
• Principals Helping Principals – Adopt A School Campaign
• 7 Ways to Help Schools Affected by Hurricane Harvey – We Are Teachers
• How Teachers Can Help With Hurricane Harvey Relief – Edweek
• How School Children Will Cope With Hurricane Harvey – The Atlantic
• Hurricane Harvey Book Club – Facebook Group
• Advice For Salvaging Wet Paper, Photos, and Materials – University of Texas
• Hurricane Harvey Resources And Disaster Relief Grant – Texas AFT Union
• Assistance to School Districts Hit by Hurricane Harvey – TCEA
• Hurricane Harvey Resources and Relief – National Education Association

The road to recovery and normalcy will be long for many. We’ll continue to look for ways to lend a hand wherever possible.

#TexasStrong

I’ve been wanting to do something like this for years – and today, we’re finally making it happen. I’m nervous and stoked.

I know that I should be blogging more, but I often find it hard to find the time or even work up the courage. And I’m going to bet that many of you are the same.

So, starting the first week of 2017, we will be publishing weekly blog prompts, related to education, and we want you to take part in this new blogging club!

Geared towards educators, but open to everyone – on any blog platform – we’ve put together topics, tasks, and short projects that should interest all.

We’ll try and model best practices in hopes that this may inspire how blogging can be encouraged with students too.

Topics like classroom management, edtech tools, and student voice. Tasks like create a short video or embed. If you participate, this should be your best year of professional development yet.

If this sounds interesting to you, we’ll publish the first prompt on Tuesday, January 3rd and then each Tuesday after that. For the entire year.

We hope to build a community around the hashtag #EdublogsClub. You’ll be able to leave links to your posts here on this blog as well to help others find posts on topics that interests them.

Ready To Join The Club?

Getting started is easy – just complete this short Google form here.

P.S.

While we wait for the New Year to roll around, you can work through our free blogging challenge series to make sure your blog is ready to go.

Here’s to blogging in 2017!

We’re all set to begin the next set of Edublogs Teacher Challenges!

The Teacher Challenges are perfect for educators who are new to blogging and also for those who may want a refresher on all of the features that blogging can offer. Join us for our four week crash-course as we guide you through the process of blogging with students.

The Teacher Challenge covers:

• Setting up class and student blogs
• Teaching quality comments and posts
• Working with widgets
• Images, copyright, and creative commons
• Connecting with other classes
• Tons more!

How Does It Work?

First, and best of all, the Edublogs Teacher Challenge is completely free of charge!

Each Teacher Challenge session lasts for 30 days, with 2-3 tasks per week that will be sent to you via email. We’ll send the first challenge to you when you signup.

Once you have competed the Teacher Challenge, we’ll give you a badge that you can proudly display on your blog and a certificate of completion which you can use towards your professional development hours.

You can use any blogging platform you prefer, but our detailed instructions will be written with Edublogs and CampusPress users in mind, so you may need to slightly adapt them depending on your platform.

Enroll For Free Now!

Enroll by filling out this Google form. 

Enrollment is always open, so you can start the challenge whenever is convenient for you. The series is excellent way of preparing for the Student Blogging Challenge, which is held every March and September!

Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.

It’s hard to believe, but today we are celebrating the TENTH birthday of Edublogs!

Our entire team is humbled and honored to have provided blogs and websites for millions of teachers and students over the past decade.

We certainly would not have reached this milestone without the support of people like you, and to say thanks, we’d like to give back.

The Great Edublogs Giveaway

Every single day in August, we’ll be giving away FREE Edublogs Pro subscriptions to lucky winners.

And then, on August 31st, we’ll choose a grand prize winner that will receive a free CampusPress network for his or her entire school, district, or university.

We plan to give away well over $10,000 worth of our services!

Entering is easy, just fill out this quick form here!

Important Notes

• Only one entry per person will be counted
• Winners can upgrade a new blog, extend their existing subscription, or give their prize to a friend or colleague
• We’ll send winners an email and announce them via our Twitter and Facebook accounts
• We’ll randomly draw 3-4 winners each day until at least 100 Edublogs Pro accounts have been given out
• No purchase necessary, and you don’t have to be present to win

Celebrating The Entire Month of August

In addition to these giveaways, this will be our biggest month EVER in terms of announcing new features and tools that we know you will love.

Thanks again for helping Edublogs continue to grow as celebrate this milestone together.

And don’t forget to enter for your chance to win here!

Happy blogiversary to you all!

This week’s round-up of Edublogs news, blog posts, classroom resources, and all things blog related.

Follow Edublogs on Twitter for daily doses of Edu-goodness!

This week, Mrs. McNally published her post, “How Blogging Transformed My Classes.” In her post, Mrs. McNally weaves inspirational stories about moments of cooperation, discovery and, dare I say, enlightenment into her practical descriptions of how she set up her blog and began the process of blogging with her classes. It’s a post worth reading and sharing with other teachers who may be interested in blogging with their classes.

Another great blog to take a look at is Fiona’s Action Research Project: Sharing & Reflecting on Learning. This blog explores the step-by-step process of blogging with students. It’s full of great information derived from real-world experiences. This is another blog worth reading and sharing.

So Many Roads: Posts About Different Ways To Learn

For narrative learners who grasp concepts by aligning them to stories, could storytelling be the “secret sauce” to STEM education?

If you’ve thought about creating a maker space in your class for active learning, the Daring Librarian shows you how to get started with the maker space starter kit.

Virtual field trips are a great alternative to “real world” field trips that require travel costs, supervision and lot of planning. Here are 7 tips for doing your virtual field trip right.

Have you watched a YouTube video on how bake cookies, or how to tune up your bike? If so, congratulations, you have taken part in micro-learning! Find out what micro-learning is and how it can be made a part of eLearning.

Edublogs Community Posts

What if video games were homework? Let students design, build and play their own games as part of the the STEM Video Game Challenge.

For the teachers who never take a break, here’s a list of resources that are perfect for anytime, anywhere learning.

The Tompkins HS Library is working on creating their own maker space. Find out which resources they’ll be using to plan and create their space.

Mr. Martin’s Musings explores the popularity of podcasts and vlogs. How could these be incorporated into your classroom blogging?

Unbeatable Tweetables

10 Ways to use the YouTube Creative Studio with your Students | #TechEducator http://t.co/zNXgBKylkV #edtech #k12

— Jeffrey Bradbury (@TeacherCast) June 5, 2015

Top 40 EdTech Conferences for Teachers and Educators http://t.co/pYcGwh3Mxm #Edtech — EdTechFam (@EdTechFam) June 5, 2015

5 Parenting Tips for Digital and Internet Safety in 2015 https://t.co/dEHqC7tglv #SIC #edchat

— SC-SIC (@SCSIC) June 4, 2015

Opinion: Technology Cannot ‘Level the Playing Field’ of Learning – See more at: http://t.co/HaO4OIqYso — edublogs (@edublogs) June 8, 2015

It can be intimidating to reach out to classmates you don’t know. But it can also be awesome. http://t.co/0YbPBMANsW #edchat #stuvoice

— Chalkup (@chalkupedu) June 10, 2015

Have you written or read any great posts about how students learn? If so, please share them with us on Twitter. Be sure to check back next week for another weekly roundup of great posts!

This week’s round-up of Edublogs news, blog posts, classroom resources, and all things blog related.

Follow Edublogs on Facebook for daily doses of Edu-goodness!

Smell The Roses: A Potpourri of Posts on Blogging, Gaming, EdTech, & More

If you’re reading our blog, you may already know this, but just in case here are some good reasons Why Teachers and Students Should Blog

You may find it easier to include technology into your lessons as “objects to think with” rather than as a replacement for textbooks and notebooks.

There is a lot of ongoing buzz about MineCraft in the classroom. Now, Lego is hoping to give the game a run for its money with their own Lego Worlds.

What teaching practices have you used in the past that you would never use again?

You are using technology in your classroom. Awesome! But, are you using it with purpose?

Edublogger Tools Recap

If your school year is winding down, then this is a good time to look back at some of the tools we have shared over the past year and see what you can use next year. If you’re not getting ready for summer break, then you and your students can start playing with them right away!

• Write Better With Grammarly
• The Educators’ Guide to Infographics
• The Top 42 Widgets To Add To Your Blog’s Sidebar
• Turning Your Edublog Into a Book

Bird’s The Word: Tweets Worth Sharing

Avoid the “summer slide” this year by keeping them reading all summer long! http://t.co/2q69kL24pm

— edublogs (@edublogs) May 28, 2015

Inspire Hope, Ignite the Imagination, and Instill a Love of Learning http://t.co/JVF7DOZiXo via @edublogs — LiteracyTVDSB (@LitTVDSB) June 2, 2015

Example of classes connecting with each other via writing prompts & blogging http://t.co/mrLnOiMZZB

— edublogs (@edublogs) May 28, 2015

Thoughtful post by @Mr_Oldfield that many connected educators would relate to http://t.co/LnAdIHHQub — edublogs (@edublogs) May 28, 2015

Excited to share our iBook on contemporary learning at #SISrocks https://t.co/9AB3wJnfft #edublogs @edublogs @suewaters

— Diana Beabout (@dianabeabout) June 2, 2015

Do you have any posts you think our Edublogs audience would love? Or a class blog you think deserves some additional visitors? Share them with us on Twitter or Facebook so we can add them to our weekly roundups!

This week’s round-up of Edublogs news, blog posts, classroom resources, and all things blog related.

Follow Edublogs on Twitter for daily doses of Edu-goodness!

Edublogs is proud to be a partner of DOGObooks’ Summer Reading Program 2015!

DOGObooks is giving kids a fun way to avoid the “summer slide” this year by keeping them reading all summer long through their Summer Reading Program. It’s easy to join, and your kids can win free books for themselves and their schools too!

This year’s program includes over 3,700 new book prizes and the top referring schools and libraries get 50 new books each. Visit DOGObooks to get more information and to register.

Summer Reading Resources From Edublogs

Enhance your summer reading list with 2015-2016 nominees for the Massachusetts Children’s Book Award.

Or checkout out Falmouth Elementary School Library’s recommended books on their Edublog here.

Curriculet has announced a free Summer Reading Challenge too that lets students read the USA Today articles for free during the summer, and lets teachers track their progress.

The Future Is Now (Posts Discussing The Future of Education)

Entrepreneur.com asked if schools should stop teaching with paper and pens. Read the fiery responses.

We found a list of “14 things that are obsolete in 21st century schools.” Do you agree? What would you add or remove from the list?

Libraries could outlast the internet. Roly Keating, the head of British Library wants us to stop asking whether libraries will still exist in the digital age.

Want to move your classroom into the future? 7 Shifts To Create A Classroom Of The Future.

Favorite Tweets Of The Week

You’ve announced your awesome #edtech initiative and parents are pushing back. Engage don’t enrage! http://t.co/jJj5so5Jgi #parentengagement

— Devorah Heitner (@DevorahHeitner) May 27, 2015

15 Great Websites for Elementary Educators from @Edudemic http://t.co/p4dW1wOks1 #BlendedLearning #EdTech — DigitalJLearning (@DigitalJLearn) May 26, 2015

“Quizizz” Is A Great Game-Playing & Game-Creating Site For Classes! http://t.co/qUcjfe7Qlj via @Larryferlazzo

— edublogs (@edublogs) May 22, 2015

End Year Tip: Use Blogbooker http://t.co/ETBRCUClHr to create a PDF of your blog — edublogs (@edublogs) May 26, 2015

Double the Learning, Double the Fun! http://t.co/YVmgusN7M8 via @edublogs

— LiteracyTVDSB (@LitTVDSB) May 21, 2015

Check back next week for more great posts and resources, or subscribe at the top of the page to receive an email alert whenever new Edublogger posts are published.