HOW-TO: Create a Safe Classroom Blog Using KidBlog.org

Example student blog.

In the age of social media, some students find reading and writing in the form of text messages, email, wiki edits, status updates, and blog comments more engaging and meaningful.

In Ontario, blogs are first referred to in the Grade 6 Language Curriculum. At that level, students are asked to evaluate the effectiveness of opinions and issues in blog form. By Grade 7 students are asked to consider their audience when writing in blog form. Our curriculum reflects the reality that blogging is an emergent genre of text in the changing landscape of the written word.

As a blogger and educator, I feel it is important to introduce this genre of writing even earlier than our curriculum currently requires. There are multiple reasons for this:

• Blogs are an opportunity to respond to media texts by commenting on the posts of others.
• Early exposure to "netiquette" and online safety issues help to keep children safe.
• Students present their writing for others to enjoy (one of Ruth Culham's "6+1 Writing Traits").
• Blogs appeal to a variety of learning styles because they are highly visual and collaborative.
• Assistive technology programs like WordQ and Kurzweil integrate nicely with blogging.
• Blogs are an exciting platform that few students get to experience in the classroom setting.

I have searched the internet high and low for a student friendly blogging solution. I originally thought that I could just create a "Blogger" account for my class, but I encountered a problem with Google's terms of service (TOS) that prohibit children under 13 years of age from using the service.

Enter KidBlog. KidBlog is a safe blogging service that uses a WordPress (a very popular and reputable blog publishing platform) like system. The service is designed for students and teachers with many security and privacy settings, but it keeps things very simple and tidy.

I am going to take you on a small tour of my class blog setup and provide a few tips.

Setting up your class blog

1. First, you'll have to register yourself as a teacher at KidBlog.
2. After registering and logging in, you will find yourself on the main "dashboard" of your blog configuration. Navigate over to the "Settings" tab.
3. Under "Settings" you can change the appearance of your blog by selecting the "Themes" sub-tab. There is a small variety of pre-built themes you can choose from that may suite your teaching style.
4. Under the "Posts" sub-tab you can change the privacy settings for your blog by selecting the different options. I recommend setting the privacy such that only you and your students can see the blog when logged in. This prevents anyone from the public from accessing anything.
5. Under the "Comments" sub-tab you can also make some changes to the privacy settings. Again, I suggest making sure that only you and your students can post comments on each other's blogs.
6. Now you need to load some of your students' information into the blog so that they can all have their own unique page and login. To do this, select the "Users" tab up top. Click on the "Add New Users" sub-tab to input usernames and passwords for each of your students. 

There are many others settings to fully customize the blogging experience for your needs, but those are all of the basics.

The blog dashboard, where teachers get a great overview of their students' blogging activity and where changes to settings can be made.

Managing your class blog

Login window.

• You and your students can now login into your blog by going to its URL and selecting "Login" at the top right. You will then get a login window with a pull-down list of each students' name and a spot to enter their password.
• As the teacher you have access to many more features than your students. When you click on the "Control Panel" button you will enter the blog dashboard that provides you with a summary of everything happening on the blog. This summary includes links to active posts, draft posts, and recent comments. You can moderate the activities of your students using this interface quite easily.
• For more advanced moderating, you can click on the "Posts" and "Comments" tabs to see a complete list of activities.
• You can edit or delete anything created by your students at any time.

Feel free to post your experiences blogging in the classroom and any questions you may have in the comments to this post. Happy blogging!

HOW-TO: Build Your Own Interactive Wii SmartBoard

In my first year of teaching, my classroom had a touch-based interactive whiteboard. It was a great way to engage the visual learners in my class. This year, in what started out as a technologically barren classroom, I thought I would try building my own interactive whiteboard system based on the research of Johnny Chung Lee.

Modelling the construction of a triangle using the interactive ruler and protractor in Smart Notebook.

The Basics

Nintendo Wii Remote

The purpose of this setup is to allow teachers and students the opportunity to manipulate a computer using a special pen on a whiteboard. Traditional interactive whiteboards can sense the physical touch of an interactive pen. This system is not touch based, it is location based using the camera tracking system built into the end of a Nintendo Wii remote. The interactive pen projects an invisible beam of infrared light ono the whiteboard that can be tracked in space by the Wii remote. The Wii remote sends location information back to the computer allowing the interactive pen to move the mouse cursor and interact with the computer.

Required Materials:

IR Sabre infra-red pen.

• a digital projector - mirroring the display from a computer
• a computer - wirelessly connected to a Nintendo Wii remote using bluetooth
• a Nintendo Wii remote - that can see the infrared signal from an infrared pen
• an infra-red pen - used to interact with the whiteboard
• a whiteboard or projector screen - for the digital projector to display an image on
• Wiimote Whiteboard software - to connect your computer to the Wii remote

My Materials:

My Wii SmartBoard cart setup.

• BENQ digital projector (supplied by my school) $499
• MacBook laptop computer with bluetooth (my personal pc)
• Nintendo Wii Remote (I used a refurbished model from BestBuy Canada online) $29.99
• IR Sabre Infra-red Pen (purchased online) $17.99
• Whiteboard (see how I built my own whiteboard)
• Wiimote Whiteboard software for Mac

Setup Procedures:

1. Connect your computer to your digital projector via a VGA, HDMI, or my case a mini-DVI cable.
2. Check to make sure that your computer display is mirroring on your whiteboard through the projector.
3. Install and run the Wiimote Whiteboard software (PC version download / Mac version download).
4. Make sure that your computer's bluetooth is turned on.
5. Press the "1" and "2" buttons on your Wii remote. This will start the connection between your remote and computer. When your connection is successfully made, the Wiimote software will alert you.
6. Place your Wii remote in front of your whiteboard so that the front camera is facing your whiteboard. 
7. In the Wiimote software, click on "Calibrate". This will bring up a four corners calibration screen. Place the pen tip of your infra-red pen on each corner and click the pen button.
8. When calibration is complete, your system is ready to go!

Troubleshooting:

It will take some trial and error to position the Wii remote camera such that it sees the entire whiteboard surface. If you notice the remote can't detect some of the points during calibration it's likely because you need to reposition the remote.

Be patient, it takes a little time for the Wii remote to make the connection to the computer. If you are having difficulty, make sure your computer's bluetooth is enabled, the Wiimote software is open, and try pressing the red reset button located under the Wii remote's battery cover.

Tips:

• Press and hold the button on your infra-red pen to "right click".
• Stand to one side of your board so that the Wii remote can see your pen's movements without obstructions.
• You can connect another Wii remote to your setup to improve tracking resolution.
• You can install and use Smart Notebook with your setup. (Highly recommended).
• Practice using the system as much as possible before introducing it to the class. With practice, it's a fantastic interactive tool but it has a steep learning curve.
• An internet connection and speakers will bring a whole new level of appeal to your system.
• To write something, I usually load Notebook then write large, right click, select "recognize as text", then resize the text and place into position. I also have a wireless keyboard (thank you K.M.) that I pass around the room so students can input text.

Limitations:

• The Wii remote camera must be able to see the end of your infra-red pen or it will not work. This makes interacting with the board awkward at times.
• The tracking resolution is low, making it difficult to write clearly and small using the pen.

Advantages:

• Thousands cheaper than purchasing a commercial interactive whiteboard.
• Allows you to use any sort of website or application on your computer in an interactive way with your entire class.
• Using the Smart Notebook software, you can create really engaging lessons with interactive components especially in math.
• Create a technologically savvy and friendly atmosphere for your 21st century learners.

June 20, 2012 Update:

I have been using the wii board mostly for math because I have a recess break just before that period to get the board setup. I haven't figured out how to setup the board and just leave it on for the day easily without my computer going to sleep and messing it up. 

I have experienced many connection issues between the wii remote and the computer during initial setup over bluetooth using the Wiimote Whiteboard software. The issue can be fixed usually be removing the batteries from the remote and then restarting the software. 

My class loves the interactive board; it took them a while to get used to how it works and its quirks but I really think that its visual and interactive features make learning much more engaging. If your school has the money for "the real thing" I say go for it, but if you can't afford the many thousands of dollars to install a real interactive bard then the Wii remote option is viable if you are comfortable with computers.