Educators are increasingly recognizing the value of having their students establish some form of digital presence — a dedicated space to capture, share, reflect on, and showcase their learning and achievements.

Blogging is a wonderful way for students to create their own corner of the web, but what exactly do you call it?

• Simply a student blog?
• Digital portfolio?
• ePortfolio?
• Learning showcase?
• Blogfolio?
• Portfolio

This post takes a look at a range of approaches to student blogs and digital portfolios to help you find the right starting point for your own journey.

If you’d like to take a deep dive into student digital portfolios or blogfolios, check out our ultimate guide on the CampusPress blog. You’ll learn about the benefits, different types of portfolios, how to choose a platform and manage it, student privacy, student artifacts, assessment, and more.

Blogs or digital portfolios can revolutionize the teaching and learning process. They offer so many advantages to students, staff, and families. Here’s a summary of the benefits for students alone.

Beyond students, a well-established ePortfolio program can also support educators and administrators through the ongoing assessment and reporting cycle. Portfolios can be equally transformative for families, helping to strengthen the relationship between home and school.

How To Set Up Student Blogs or Digital Portfolios

The first step is to decide what platform you’ll use for your blogs or portfolios. There are many choices these days and naturally, they come with pros and cons.

We believe WordPress should be at the top of your list when considering a portfolio platform. Okay, we admit we are biased as Edublogs and CampusPress are powered by WordPress.

Why WordPress? It comes down to 4 key areas:

• Popularity: 43% of the web is powered by WordPress
• Exportability: Students can take their data with them
• Flexibility: WordPress is about more than just blogging; it’s highly customizable
• Authenticity: Tools built for education may be less relevant when students step outside into the real world

We break down these 4 reasons for choosing WordPress in more detail in our complete guide to portfolios.

Want to try out digital portfolios yourself or with students before implementing a school-wide program? Edublogs, is perfect for that. You can get started today for free. Check out our Blogging 101 page to learn more or sign up on the Edublogs home page.

If you want a dedicated WordPress network for schools, universities, or districts, check out CampusPress. Please reach out if you want to talk more about this school-wide option. Our team can help you go through your options in more detail.

One really useful management feature exclusive to Edublogs and CampusPress is My Class. It takes the hassle out setting up, monitoring, and managing student blogs or digital portfolios.

Learn more about My Class in this post. 

Digital Portfolio Terminology

Many educators refer to their student blogs as digital portfolios, ePortfolios, or simply portfolios (after all, is the modifier “digital” truly necessary anymore?)

Academics and thought leaders often debate the meaning of the term digital portfolio. What does this mean? What does it look like?

We quite like this definition from Irish National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (via EUfolio, 2015),

ePortfolios are student-owned dynamic digital workspaces wherein students can capture their learning and their ideas, access their collections of work, reflect on their learning, share it, set goals, seek feedback and showcase their learning and achievements.

Perhaps a useful alternative term is “blogfolio” which Silvia Tolisano describes as the glue that can hold it all together in learning.

Blogfolios are the glue that can hold all curricular content, goals and objectives as well as support school initiatives, observations, assessment and accountability requirements or personal passions, interest and projects together.

Digital portfolios? Blogs? ePortfolios? Blogfolios? Ultimately, the terminology you choose to adopt in your school or university is up to you, however, consistency across your campus is definitely a good idea!

In this post, our focus is less on terminology and more on the different frameworks that teachers use in practice. Seeing how other educators approach student blogs and portfolios may spark some ideas about what could work best for you and your students.

Expectations and Frameworks: Six Styles of Portfolio

We have observed differences in how student blogs and portfolios work in a variety of areas. There appears to be a spectrum in at least six key areas:

Let’s break down these six areas and consider where you might sit on each side of the spectrum.

1. Duration

Some student blogs or portfolios are only active for a single year. When a student moves on to a class that doesn’t use blogging, their individual portfolio can end up sitting idle. This can be frustrating for teachers who have put time and effort into building an effective system for their student blogs or portfolios — and equally disappointing for students.

Other institutions think ahead with a whole-school approach.

When thinking about implementing an ePortfolio program, some schools or institutions feel most comfortable starting small — perhaps having ePortfolios in pilot courses or classes. This can be a good way to begin but we see the greatest benefits when portfolios are implemented school-wide, department-wide, or in more than one course at a time.

There are three main benefits of having the same portfolio or website across classes and from year-to-year. Why? There are a number of reasons:

1. The focus can move from the technology to the content and learning
2. Progress can be documented from year to year and class to class
3. It’s more meaningful and more impactful

Read more about these three reasons in our complete guide to digital portfolios.

Consider: If you’re investing time in establishing student blogs or digital portfolios, how can you showcase this to the wider school community and motivate administrators to establish a school-wide plan?

2. Privacy

Should blogs be public or private? This is always a contentious issue.

Our complete guide to digital portfolios, explores this issue in detail. When you use a WordPress based platform like Edublogs or CampusPress, you have a lot of choices. You can have your whole network of portfolios protected by passwords, or alternatively, individual portfolios or even particular posts can be password protected.

This graphic from our complete guide summarizes the pros and cons of public digital portfolios or blogs.

It’s important for students to realize that there are times when our work should be private. Students should be guided to make decisions about what work they want to share publicly and what they want to keep private.

Consider: What are the advantages and drawbacks of making student blogs public? If student sites are kept entirely private, does that mean giving up all the benefits that come with publishing openly? Is there a middle ground where some portfolio posts are public while others are password protected? Another option is for students to use pen names and refrain from sharing photos of themselves. Blocking search engines is also worth keeping in mind.

3. Content

What will form the content or artifacts in your student blogs or portfolios? What will they actually publish?

At one end of the spectrum is total freedom where teachers are less concerned about what the students are writing about, and more concerned about the students simply publishing and finding a voice.

At the other end of the spectrum, some teachers see the blogs as a space that must be in line with the curriculum and demonstrate what is happening in the classroom.

Certainly not always, but sometimes the age of the students influences this issue.

Julie Moore in Tasmania, Australia, taught grade 2/3. The students began by contributing to the class blog before some students establish their own blogs. Julie says,

The children mostly have a free spin on what they would like to write a post about. It gives them an outlet for writing about their passions/interests, and it then gives me an “in” for feedback and improvements to their writing.

Julie understands that the students do require some explicit teaching around blogging. She finds The Student Blogging Challenge a great way to achieve this. In addition, she runs a lunchtime club and a weekly timetabled blogging session.

Heather Alexander in Florida teaches year 9-12 ceramics. Her students use their blogs purely to document and reflect on their own artwork, and respond to the curriculum. Teaching the same class multiple times, Heather has come up with a logistical framework to organize the student blogs,

What I have done is name all the students’ blogs with their class period prefacing the name so they appear in order on the page.

Heather encourages students to comment on classmates’ blogs and set up an effective system after finding students were taking too long to find a post to comment on.

I have students work in “peer blog mentor” groups. They self-select a group of 3 -5 peers and then I match their group with a group in another class. I moderate the comments so I can check for accuracy and completion before they are published.

This raises the additional question of feedback. Who will be responsible for giving feedback to your student bloggers? Will you put a peer system in place like Heather did? Or will you visit blogs yourself? What do you hope to achieve with feedback — simple encouragement and conversation, or scaffolding to support learning goals? These are all worthwhile questions to reflect on.

Can your blogging framework involve set tasks and freedom?

Somewhere in the middle of the freedom/structure debate, is the approach adopted by Adam Geiman, an educator from Pennsylvania. He used the first 30% of the school year to provide structure around tasks for his fourth grade students.

The students were given guidance, yet also had some freedom of choice in how they’d present set tasks. Some would do a Google Doc, while others would present their task as a comic, infographic etc.

For the remaining 70% of the school year, students were given more freedom and many came up with their own ideas on what they wanted to publish. For example, Jackson announced the new school trout, while Brooklyn talked about her new glasses.

In our complete guide to digital portfolios we have a whole chapter on student artifacts. You’ll be able to get lots of ideas on the sorts of things students could publish in their portfolios or on their blogs. These include:

• Text including hyperlinked writing
• Images, photography, and artwork
• Video
• Audio
• Social media
• Other embeddable content

Consider: What are the needs of your students? Are you trying to engage them in the blogging process and help them find a voice? Or are you wanting the blogs to be a vehicle to demonstrate curriculum outcomes? Are these two things mutually exclusive?

4. Reflection

Some form of reflection is often a key feature of digital portfolios or blogfolios.

Students can reflect on what they’ve learned, their successes and “failures”, their problem-solving approaches, and their future plans or goals. Reflective entries offer educators a window into how students are learning, rather than simply what they have learned.

Educator Jabiz Raisdana, has documented some compelling thoughts on student blogging. He advocates for freedom, stating that:

If you want your students to blog effectively, give them the freedom to experiment and write about what interests them.

Stay away from portfolios and forced reflections on their learning, at least until they get the hang of it.

Wait until they find a voice, find an audience… before you push your agenda of meta-cognition and reflective learning.

Perhaps on the other end of the spectrum is the argument from Matt Renwick in his blog post ‘Think You’re Doing Digital Portfolios? Think again’.

Of course, all of the posted artifacts of student learning are accompanied with reflection, self-assessment, and goal setting for the future.
Otherwise, it’s only sharing content. Nice, but not necessary for students’ education.

Many teachers use a mixed approach; sometimes they explicitly encourage reflection and at other times they let the students decide how to structure their posts.

What about our youngest students? How can they reflect?

Using tools like voice recordings can offer students with emerging literacy skills the chance to reflect. Kindergarten teachers Aviva Dunsiger and Paula Crockett include student interviews and reflections that offer a rich insight into learning.

These innovative teachers have created a special section of their blog called The Daily Shoot where student learning is captured and shared.

Following in her students’ footsteps, Aviva even uses a blog of her own to reflect. What a mighty combination!

Consider: Most teachers agree that some sort of student reflection on learning is powerful. How can you incorporate this into your student blogs or portfolios without making the process a chore or turn students off the enjoyment of blogging?

5. Style

Would you like your students to document their best work, their learning journeys, their assessment outcomes, or a mix?

In general, there are four types of student blogs or portfolios:

• Showcase or presentation: a collection of best work
• Process or learning: a work in progress
• Assessment: used for accountability
• Hybrid: a mix of two or three of the above

This is not an easy decision, but it is also one that can develop as you go. It ties back to the public/private debate as well. Do your students want every piece of evidence of their learning to be part of their digital footprint?

Again, there is certainly middle ground. George Couros has reflected on his dilemma about what end of this spectrum he would sit on: “growth” or “best work”.

Since there are benefits in both options, it was tough to decide on one, so we ultimately went with the decision to go with both. The “blog” portion of my digital space allows me to share things that I am learning (like this article I am writing) while also aggregating my best stuff into solitary “pages”.

We take a deep dive into the types of portfolios you could use in our complete guide to digital portfolios. 

Consider: Is there a type of blog or portfolio that you think would best suit your students’ needs? Not sure where to begin? Some educators find it easiest to start with a showcase portfolio — a collection of their best work. From there, they can transition into a process or hybrid approach. Think about the starting point that feels right for you.

6. Control

Many of these five areas are underpinned by the question of control. Who is in control? The teacher or the students?

Can there be a gradual release of control as the students become older and more experienced?

Perhaps there are some small aspects of their blog or portfolio that even the youngest students can have some control over?

For example:

• Their title
• Theme
• Choice of tool or post format
• Where they leave comments

Will you always tell students what they need to publish on their portfolios or will they have choice? Can students have some say into whether they want their work to be public or private?

Most teachers would agree that it’s important to consider how students can be in charge of their own learning. Digital portfolios and blogging offer a lot of potential for student-centered learning.

The My Class tool also allows you to hand over responsibility as you choose. You can begin by moderating all student posts and comments, and then turn off these settings as appropriate.

There’s a lot to be said for the power of choice and ownership to motivate students to improve.

The overarching purpose of portfolios is to create a sense of personal ownership over one’s accomplishments, because ownership engenders feelings of pride, responsibility, and dedication.

Paris and Ayres (1994)

Paris and Ayres (1994)

Consider: If you feel uncomfortable giving students too much choice initially, how can you plan to gradually hand over responsibility or offer them small but meaningful choices? How do you think autonomy, freedom, and choice will help improve your students’ motivation for learning?

Conclusion

Are your student blogs or portfolios igniting a passion for learning or are they just another chore to be completed?

How can you set up digital portfolios or blogfolios that allow for rich learning, creativity, excitement, deep reflection, collaboration, and authenticity?

These are some key questions to ask yourself but in the end, sometimes you just need to throw in the canoe and start paddling.

Figure it out as you go. There is a big education community and support behind you.

Don’t let fear or indecision around student blogs freeze you into inaction. Worrying too much about whether you’re “doing it right” can lead to not doing it at all. At any level, student blogs and portfolios provide benefits. Embrace them.

We would love to hear your ideas. Please comment and share your thoughts on student blogs or portfolios.  

We’ve set up a Getting Started With Edublogs page on this blog to provide a central location for “how to” resources. Please let us know if you have any resources to add to this page.

Meantime we receive many requests for tips on blogging with students so here is some advice from educators who are experienced with using blogs in their classrooms.

Using Blogs With Students

Al Upton’s advice to educators new to using blogs is to start first with a class blog and move toward students posting about their own learning on their own blogs when they feel comfortable.

Kim Cofino says “One of my biggest stumbling blocks, as I’ve switched gears from middle to elementary school, is individual e-mail accounts for the students“. Her solution is Gmail allows you to create subsidiary accounts that link to an individual account which means that one teacher can have permanent e-mail accounts for all students delivered into one teacher e-mail account.

Here are Kim Confino’s tips for setting up students as Contributors on Edublogs – the quick and easy way so that:

• Individual students have log-ins WITHOUT individual e-mail accounts
• Individual student contributors to the blog WITHOUT their blog
• All posts are approved by the blog administrator before posting.

Parental consent is an aspect that needs to be considered. Clay Burell uses a Parents Consent For Student Weblog Letter to inform parents of the aims of using blogs and let parents choose the level of privacy – name, image in photos or videos, comment moderation – for their child.

Susan Morgan shares her conversation with Matt, one of her students, on how his classes were going, specifically regarding the use of technology. Here’s an extract from Susan’s post:

Well, I wish teachers wouldn’t assign stuff for no reason. It seems that they are just adding on technology projects on top of the other things we already do.

“He senses from some teachers that they feel they have to “do” technology, not that they want to. His biggest criticism is the way we blog. A teacher posts a question, and the student writes a nightly response to it, much like he would do in a reading log or journal. He said there’s not much follow-up to the posting, either by students or teachers.

What Matt wishes is that his teachers would consider using blogs or forums to extend his learning.

Konrad Glogowski’s Blog of Proximal Development shares a variety of tips for blogging with students such as Replacing Grading With Conversations, Making Assessments More Personally Relevant, How to Grow a Blog and Towards Reflective BlogTalk.

Konrad wants his students:

to see their blogs and their entries as organic entities, as attempts to engage with ideas, as evidence of growth and development. It’s about maintaining conversations, not ending them by saying “Well done!” or “Good job!”

When it comes to incorporating blogging into the classroom, there are a few key tips to keep in mind.  Blogging can be a powerful tool for students to develop their writing skills, share their thoughts and ideas, and engage in meaningful discussions with their peers. 

Here are some tips for effectively integrating blogging into your classroom:

i) Establish clear guidelines

Before introducing blogging to your students, it’s important to establish clear guidelines and expectations. This can include guidelines for appropriate language, respectful dialogue, and citation of sources. By setting clear expectations from the start, you can create a positive and respectful online environment for your students.

ii) Provide feedback

Just as you would with traditional writing assignments, it’s important to provide constructive feedback on students’ blog posts. Encourage students to revise and edit their work based on your feedback, and guide how they can improve their writing skills.

iii) Encourage interaction

One of the key benefits of blogging is the opportunity for students to engage in meaningful discussions with their peers. Encourage students to comment on each other’s blog posts, ask questions, and provide feedback. This can help foster a sense of community within the classroom and encourage peer-to-peer learning.

iv) Use prompts

Some students may find it challenging to come up with ideas for their blog posts. Writing prompts can help them get started and inspire them to explore new topics. Prompts can be related to the curriculum or open-ended to allow students to express their creativity.

v) Incorporate multimedia

Encourage students to incorporate multimedia elements such as images, videos, and infographics into their blog posts to make them more engaging and visually appealing.

vi) Foster a supportive environment

Create an inclusive environment where students feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. Encourage respectful dialogue and open-mindedness.

By following these tips, educators can effectively leverage blogging as a tool to enhance students’ writing and critical thinking skills, while also fostering a sense of community within the classroom.

Final Thoughts

What is your advice to educators starting out blogging with students? What has worked? What has caused problems? Can you recommend other posts that educators should read on this topic?

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Does setting up your own teacher blog appeal to you? We can help!

We have just updated our 10 step self-paced course on personal blogging!

About The Course

Here’s what you need to know about the Personal Blogging Teacher Challenge course:

• This is a free course that’s open to anyone.
• You can work at your own pace in a time frame that suits you.
• If you complete all 10 steps you can access a certificate and badge.
• Each step includes reading material, examples, and a choice of tasks to demonstrate and develop your skills.
• You can pick and choose, and just complete certain steps if you wish.

Enjoy The Benefits Of Blogging

By the end of the course, you’ll have a blog with strong foundations that will set you up to enjoy the many advantages of educational blogging.

So what are those benefits of blogging? Let’s break down some of them!

• Blogging helps teachers to reflect and develop their thinking.
• Teacher-bloggers can be role models for students as digital citizens and writers.
• The act of researching and writing authentically for an audience is a fantastic way to learn.
• A blog can act as your home base for all your work and can serve as a digital portfolio which can be an advantage for furthering your career.
• Trying out blogging before introducing it to your students can be a comfortable progression for many educators.

Optional Workbook

This PDF workbook will help to keep you on track and focused as you work through the 10 steps. The workbook also explains more of what the course is about.

Scroll down and click on the ‘download’ button under the document to save it to your computer or print a copy.

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Get Started!

As Zig Ziglar said, “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”

Now is a great time to jump right in!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the growing expectations placed on today’s educators? Feel like there’s never enough time to build a strong rapport with your community while delivering a rich, modern curriculum? Blogging might help you in more ways than you’d expect!

Blogs have become a well-established part of the online landscape over the past decade. The educational blogging community continues to grow at a rapid pace — evidenced by the over four million blogs on Edublogs, and countless more across other platforms.

You may have no blogging experience at all, or you may have tried it before. Whatever your background, now is a great time to consider starting a new blog.

Here are ten reasons to integrate blogging into your classroom or professional practice — and make sure you read to the very end for a summary infographic you can share!

1. Home-School Connections:

Many teachers establish a class blog as a ‘virtual window into the classroom’. This was my primary purpose for beginning a blog back in 2008 before other advantages and uses became apparent.

Through reading and commenting on posts, families can be a part of what is happening in the classroom and have unmatched access to their child’s education.

Research shows that parent engagement is associated with improvements across a number of areas such as educational outcomes, behaviour and school attendance. Participating virtually now tends to suit many parents who are juggling careers and other demands. This is something that can be actively capitalized on through a classroom blogging program.

It is important to remember that most parents are busy people who need education and ongoing invitations to participate. As a teacher, I certainly found that actively encouraging parent participation in blogging was something that paid off. You may consider offering your parents: handouts, video tutorials, family blogging events, parent information evenings, commenting challenges or email newsletters.

2. Authentic Audiences:

In the traditional classroom, the only audience for student work was the teacher and sometimes classmates and parents. Blogs provide a much larger audience for student work and an avenue for feedback and self-improvement through commenting.

I found that students took particular pride when publishing work for our blog and often wanted to do their best for their impending audience. When we establish an authentic audience for our students we help them connect their classwork to the real world. After all, isn’t that what education is supposed to be about?

3. Literacy Skills:

With a class or individual blog, students are reading and writing for a purpose and genuine audience. Unlike other approaches to teaching literacy, where you may study a genre or style for a few weeks, blogging can be an ongoing occurrence in the classroom.

When high standards are set, and explicit teaching is embedded, a blogging program can be a powerful catalyst to improved literacy skills.

If we want our students to be motivated to use their emerging writing skills, we have to make writing purposeful, challenging, and real-to-life. Blogging offers this.

Traditional literacy skills are also no longer enough for our students. As innovative educator Silvia Tolisano points out, there are now many types of 21st literacies including: digital, media, visual and global literacies. A classroom blogging program can help integrate these literacies into your classroom seamlessly.

4. Classroom Community:

Creating a class blog requires teamwork and collaboration. Students and teachers can learn and share together. The Edublogs’ student and teacher challenges can be a great place to start this learning process.

A real sense of classroom community can be developed through blogging and establishing a class identity. Even if teachers are initially writing posts, students can take on roles and responsibilities such as capturing images, creating multimedia or replying to comments. A class blog mascot can also be a fun way to represent your classroom community.

5. Internet Safety:

Teaching students to be safe and responsible online is an increasingly important issue. Effective internet safety education does not involve one off lessons. This is a notion supported by the experts at Connect Safely who say internet safety concepts should be woven into the curriculum. They point out that students don’t distinguish between their digital lives and their personal lives, and there is a lot of power in using ‘teachable moments’ just as you would with any subject matter.

A classroom blogging program offers ongoing opportunities to discuss internet safety and appropriate online behaviours in an authentic setting. Blogging is an excellent way to learn about being a responsible member of an online community, digital footprints, netiquette, making safe choices and more. As Connect Safely identify, the key messages educators need to teach are: ‘think before you post’ and ‘be kind and respectful’. There is amazing potential to use blogging to promote these exact messages.

Using a platform like Edublogs offers you a lot of freedom to select the privacy settings that you and your community are comfortable with.

6. ICT Skills:

It can be easy to assume that students are ‘digital natives’ and come to school already equipped with a broad range of ICT skills. A review paper published in the journal Teaching and Teacher Education found that “information-savvy digital natives do not exist”.

Becoming an effective and fluent user of information technology requires explicit teaching and practice. Through blogging, many skills are able to be discussed and practised, often incidentally. These can range from keyboard shortcuts, coding, Creative Commons, research skills, using multimedia, troubleshooting and a lot more. Again, these learnings are all for an authentic purpose rather than through skill and drill exercises.

7.Global Connections:

I have found this to be one of the most exciting benefits of blogging for both teachers and students. Blogging can help flatten classroom walls like no other tool.

Over my years of blogging, my students and I got to know many classes across the world who we called our ‘blogging buddies’.

The benefits of global connections are priceless. A sense of understanding and tolerance develops and students can learn a lot about the world in which they live. Blogging partnerships allowed my students to learn from and with their global classmates about topics such as geography, cultures, time zones, seasons, language, internet safety and more.

When blogging is established in your classroom, there is also the possibility to organise or join in structured global projects. The opportunities and potential outcomes are endless.

And from a teacher’s perspective, once you become involved in blogging, your professional learning network can rapidly expand to be a lot larger than your school staffroom. You never know who you will meet and what wonderful relationships you can form!

8. Personal Development:

The process of blogging allows a lot of scope for personal development, for both students and teachers. Blogging offers reinforcement and feedback through comments beyond the immediate classroom community. This can drive self-esteem, personal reflection and growth, as well as confidence. Students and/or teachers may realize they have something important to say, and blogging may encourage individuals to speak their mind, reflect deeply and share their understandings.

Blogging is also a fantastic creative outlet. Whether it’s writing, designing your blog layout, or using photography, video, podcasts or other multimedia tools, blogs offer so much scope for creativity and fun. Blogs can also be used to showcase creative pursuits in art, music, sport, science or any other field.

A blogging program can also help to foster individual talents and passions while driving creativity and personal growth.

9. Lifelong Learning:

Blogging can be an excellent meta-cognitive process and avenue for reflection. The process of creating blog posts, allows you to ‘think about what you think’ and put those thoughts into words. Through delving into my thoughts on topics, and writing about what was happening in my classroom, I often came up with new ideas and strategies to use in my teaching. Additionally, when others offer thoughts and opinions on blog posts, you can be introduced to new perspectives that drive further reflection.

Effective teaching and learning does not occur in a vacuum, and establishing a broad network of global educators is priceless. It’s hard to believe that the majority of teachers are still relying on the insights of their immediate team or school when there are billions of people out there who can broaden their horizons!

Whatever position we are in, we must take advantage of the tools we now have for connecting beyond our immediate surrounds.

10. Blogging is versatile … and free!

What is a blog? It’s anything you want it to be really. It’s like asking ‘what is a classroom?’ We all know a classroom can be indoors, outdoors, in rows, in circles, big, small or even flipped. A blog is merely a website that can be customized to meet your individual requirements.

Blogs offer you the versatility to create a unique online space to represent yourself and/or your students and community. Unlike some online tools, blogging is completely free yet the potential uses and advantages are incomparable.

What Now?

You may be convinced, but what about your school leadership team or community? This post may help you to persuade them that it would be doing your students a disservice to not expose them to all the advantages that blogging offers.

Be sure to check out the infographic summary of this post too!

If you’re ready to start setting up a blog, click here. If the Edublogs team can help with any other questions about blogging, simply leave a comment or contact us on our help and support page.

If you’ve been blogging for a while, no doubt you would have heard of Linda Yollis?

Linda is a third grade teacher from Los Angeles, California. She began blogging with her students in 2008.

Linda has impacted countless members of the educational blogging community over the years. She willingly shares her insights and experiences at conferences, on social media via X and on her blog.

Linda has been a huge influence on many teachers’ own blogging programs. She inspires them to set a high standard for writing and actively teach and promote quality commenting. This leads to a very noticeable improvement in student outcomes.

Some of our staff have also worked on many global collaborative projects together over the years.

Linda has come up with so many catchy ideas, such as Family Blogging Month. This concept has been borrowed by many others as a way of encouraging family participation in blogging.

New Video: Tips For You And Your Students

Linda recently created a new video with her students called Tips To Ensure Quality Blogging.

It’s part of a post she prepared on teaching and promoting quality writing.

This fabulous short video is well worth watching and sharing with your students.

It outlines the students’ rules for participation in their classroom blogs and the agreements they make when publishing on the blogs.

If you enjoyed the video, you might like to check out some of Linda’s other videos that she’s created with her students over the years.

The Benefits of Blogging

How to Write a Quality Comment

Blogging is Learning

Blogs are made up of two main content types: posts and pages.

A common question for people new to blogging is, “What’s the difference between posts and pages?”

Here’s a simple explanation to help demystify the difference and understand when to use each one.

Introduction to Posts

Your posts are where you’ll publish your main content.  On class blogs and student blogs your posts are where you’ll publish your main content such as:

• showcases of student work
• information about what’s been happening in class
• assignment information or learning resources

Posts are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order with the most recent post at the top of the page.

By default, your home page is your blog post page and this is where you’ll see your new posts published. If you want your posts to appear on a page other than your homepage refer to:

1. Static Front page.
2. Posting on different pages.

If you look closely at a post you will see it is normally made up of:

1. Post Title – tells the reader what the post is about.  A great post title grabs readers attention and is more likely to encourage them to read your post.
2. Date published – all posts display the date a post was published.  You’ll normally see this displayed at the top of the post.
3. Written by – most themes display the name of the post author.  Your username is automatically displayed unless you have changed your display name.
4. Comments – all themes have a link to comments.  This is where your readers can click to write a comment in response to your post.  Comments allow students and other readers to engage in discussions, share their thoughts, and connect with your class blog.
5. Your post content – this is the main information that you want to share or reflect on with your readers.
6. Categories – are used to help readers locate posts on your blog.  Categories are often used like chapters of a book; they provide a general overview of the topics you blog about.
7. Tags – are used to help readers locate posts on your blog.  Tags are more like the index at the back of the book and explode the topic into a million bits.

Introduction to Pages

Pages on blogs are normally used for information that you want to share with your readers but don’t expect to update frequently.

Common pages on class and student blogs include:

1. The About page – Your About Page is used for telling readers more about yourself and your blog.  Here are how-to’s with examples of About pages on Class blogs and student blogs.
2. Blogging Rules and Guidelines (here’s how to create Blogging Rules and Guidelines).

The main things to remember are:

1. Pages are best suited for information you rarely update such as your About and Blogging Guidelines pages.
2. Situations where you want to discuss a question or topic are better suited to publish as a post and not a page.
3. Assignment and homework information is normally best published as posts and not on a page.
4. Too many pages can make information harder to manage and find.

If you look closely at a page you will see it is normally made up of:

1. Page title – tells the reader what the page is about.
2. Your page content – this is information you want to share on this page.
3. Comments – most themes support comments at the bottom of the page.  Comments are disabled on pages by default and can be enabled.

Posts vs Pages

Below are key differences between pages and posts that are important to understand when working with them.

Commonly asked questions

Here are answers to commonly asked questions we receive:

1. What does the “Not found” message on my homepage mean?

By default, the front page of your blog is set to display your latest posts.

If you delete the default “Hello World’ post before you publish a new post then your front page will display ‘Nothing Found’, ’404 – Not Found Error’ or something similar depending on the theme you are using.

This message is displayed because there is nothing to display on your front page.

All you need to do is go to Posts > Add New and publish a new post.  Once the new post is published you’ll see it displayed on your homepage.

You’ll find more detailed step by step instructions on how to fix a Not Found message here.

2.  How do you delete the Hello World Post?

Every newly created blog is the same default lay out with posts displayed on its home page with a ‘Hello World’ post and a ‘Sample’ page.

You can delete this post at any time by going to Posts > All Posts.  

Hovering your mouse over the title of the Hello post brings up four action links.

Now click on Trash.  This sends it to your Trash folder where it is permanently deleted within 30 days of when you trashed it.

Remember if you delete all posts, and your homepage is your blog post page, you will see a “Not Found” message.

To remove that message you just need to publish a new post by going to Posts > Add New.

3.  Is it possible to publish posts to different pages on my blog?

We’re often asked if it is possible to add posts to other pages, rather than just the front page of the blog.  This approach is used by educators who want to use one blog for multiple classes or subjects and sometimes by students for their ePortfolios.

You do it by sending posts to different pages on your blog by assigning different categories to posts, based on the class or subject, and using a custom menu to create a link to the categories from your top navigation.  When students and parents click on their category they’re taken to all the posts for that class or subject.

You’ll find step by step instructions on using categories to organize multiple classes or subjects on your blog here.

Leave a comment on this post if you need help!

4.  How do you enable comments on pages?

Most themes support comments at the bottom of the page.  Comments are disabled on pages by default and can be enabled by following these instructions.

Do you blog as part of your teaching practice?

Are you looking to reach a wider audience and build a stronger professional network around your work?

This practical post outlines five simple, effective ways to share and promote your teacher blog. Whether you’re just getting started or want more people to engage with what you’re already publishing, these strategies can help your posts reach the readers they’re meant for:

1. Make posts ‘shareable’
2. Use social media
3. Set up an email subscription
4. Encourage others to share your posts
5. Be an audience

If you don’t yet have a blog, that’s no problem. You can get one for free by heading over to the Edublogs homepage.

And if you want to be walked through the process of setting up your blog, check out our free, self-paced course.

Marketing? Really?

The word marketing has got a bad rap in recent decades. Perhaps it makes you think of cheesy, spammy scams, used car salesmen, or endless infomercials.

This is definitely not the sort of marketing we’re talking about here.

As Seth Godin explains, modern marketing is really using the culture to reach people who want to be reached and offering them something they’re glad to find.

There’s probably many members of the education community out there who would love to find you. So, do them a favor and start marketing your wonderful work!

The Benefits Of Blogging For Yourself

Before we look at building an audience through sharing and marketing your blog, let’s go over the many benefits of blogging just for yourself.

What’s the point of blogging even if no one is reading? Is there a point?

Of course!

Blogging is a fantastic way to reflect and develop your thinking

As Clive Thompson stated in Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better,

Professional writers have long described the way that the act of writing forces them to distill their vague notions into clear ideas. By putting half-formed thoughts on the page, we externalize them and are able to evaluate them much more objectively. This is why writers often find that it’s only when they start writing that they figure out what they want to say.

The research process of blogging is also an excellent way to learn

Take a topic you know a little about or have some interest in, do some research and present it in an easy-to-digest way for others. You might be surprised at how transformative this learning process is!

Having your own online space can present you with career opportunities

Some professionals also enjoy having a blog or website that serves as a digital portfolio. This home base for all your work and credentials can be an advantage for furthering your career.

Becoming a blogger will help you help your students

Teacher-bloggers can be role models for students as digital citizens and writers.

Furthermore, trying out blogging before introducing it to your students can be a comfortable progression for many educators.

Why Sharing And Marketing Your Blog Applies To Everyone

Despite all of the personal benefits of blogging, you can really amplify things by building an audience.

Clive Thompson explains,

…studies have found that particularly when it comes to analytic or critical thought, the effort of communicating to someone else forces you to think more precisely, make deeper connections, and learn more.

Building an audience also means expanding your professional learning network (PLN); there are countless benefits to building a strong network as we explore in our free self-paced PLN  course for educators.

So we know there are benefits to having an audience for your blog, but building an audience does take work and it requires you to share and market your posts.

How exactly can you share and market your blog? Let’s take a look…

With the rise of the ‘edupreneur’ some teachers are using blogging for financial benefit, however, we’ll be focusing on sharing and marketing for the teacher blogger who’s interesting in connecting and learning with others. 

Strategies To Share And Market Your Posts

You might have put together a fantastic blog post and felt satisfied as you hit the publish button, but your job is not done.

Just because you publish something online, doesn’t mean it will be seen. People won’t know about your post if you don’t share it.

Standing out in a blogosphere populated by millions of people can take work. Fortunately, there are some simple strategies to help ensure your blog post gets an audience.

1) Make Posts ‘Shareable’

Blogging is not like writing a high school essay. A long chunk of text on a page is just not going to appeal to your potential audience. They’ll move on.

The first thing you need to do is look at your styling and post layout because let’s face it; people aren’t going to share your post if the content was too difficult to even read.

Our post 10 Tips For Making Your Blog Posts Easier To Read will help guide you through the process of creating easy to read posts.

The Power Of Visuals

We know how powerful visuals are! A Hubspot article tells us,

Eye-tracking studies show internet readers pay close attention to information-carrying images. In fact, when the images are relevant, readers spend more time looking at the images than they do reading text on the page.

Studies have shown that visitors to your blog will probably only read about 20% of your post. People generally scroll through and skim posts. Images give people a reason to stop scrolling.

Through an image, people may be more likely to take in your content and share it with others.

What Sort Of Visuals Can You Make For Blog Posts?

There are all sorts of visuals you can include in your posts. Let’s explore three popular additions to blog posts — social media graphics, infographics, and quotes.

Graphics to share on social media

Bloggers often create a graphic to accompany their blog post which makes a social media post stand out. It’s generally just the title of the blog post with an image and the blog URL — perhaps with blogger’s name or social media handle too.

Whenever we create a new post on The Edublogger, we create a simple graphic to go with it.

For example:

There are certain size dimensions that are ideal for different social media platforms as outlined here by Louise M. (Tip: If you’re using Canva which we will explain below, it will generate the correct size automatically).

Infographics

An infographic can be a great way to summarize information or data and make posts more shareable.

The 10 Ways To Make You Blog Posts Easier To Read visual above is an example of an infographic that acts like a ‘cheat sheet’.

Here is another example we prepared for International Dot Day. This sort of thing can really help the time-poor reader.

Quotes

Quotes can be powerful additions to blog posts. They can offer a burst of insightful learning and back up your own thoughts.

In our post about quotes, we outlined different ways you can use quotes and turn them into shareable graphics.

You wouldn’t want to make every quote into a graphic but it can certainly give your readers something else to focus on and share.

A quote graphic might display the words over an image, pattern, or a block color.

How To Make Visuals For Blog Posts

There are many different ways you can make the sorts of visuals we described above.

There are a number of offline tools available, such as Adobe Photoshop or Indesign, however, online tools are more popular than ever. A lot of these tools are based on templates, so you don’t even need design skills.

Just some online tools for making visuals include:

• Canva (solid free plan with paid options — see below)
• Adobe Express (free for teachers and students)
• Stencil (free plan allows for 10 creations per month)
• Snappa (free plan allows for 3 downloads per month)

Canva tips and information

Canva is certainly one of the most popular tools for bloggers and it’s one I personally love to use!

• Canva has millions of users worldwide and is popular in many industries, including education.
• Students under 13 can use Canva if they’re ‘appropriately supervised’. (Read Richard Byrne’s post about this topic for further clarification).
• Canva is a web-based tool but there are also apps for Android and iOS.
• The free plan allows you to make unlimited creations and download them in high quality without watermarks. This sets Canva apart from some similar tools.
• The paid ‘Canva for Work‘ plan gives you access to more templates, images, and icons etc. It also allows you to resize your design without starting again (e.g. you might make something in A4 size then want a smaller version to share on social media). Additionally, you can download your designs with a transparent background (handy for logos, badges, buttons etc.).
• Canva uses a drag and drop interface which is very simple to use but like all tools, does require a little bit of playing around to develop fluency. It’s worth the investment in time!

Check out this post I wrote about Canva for more information and ideas.

2) Use Social Media

A lot of people who might be interested in your blog posts are hanging out on social media. You want to strategically share your content on social media and make it easy for others to share as well.

Share Your Own Content

There are a few things to keep in mind when sharing your own blog posts on social media

Consider your platform(s)

Teachers are active on different platforms — X (formerly Twitter) has traditionally been very popular with teachers (if you’re new to X you can find out more information here). There are also a large number of teachers active on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn etc.

You don’t have to be sharing on every platform. Using one or two social media platforms well can be a more successful approach than spreading yourself thin across different networks.

Tailor your message

If you are going to share your posts across various social media platforms, tailor your message to cater to the different audiences and the different ways the platforms are used.

For example, Instagram and X use hashtags more than Facebook. Pinterest tends to center around larger ‘shareable’ images. X has a 280 character limit whereas Facebook allows you to write lengthier posts.

Keep these sorts of details in mind if you’re going to cross-promote your posts. Copying and pasting may not be the best approach.

Repeat, but don’t overdo it

Just because you post something on social media, doesn’t mean it will be widely seen. You might need to post a variation of the message a number of times.

Repeating the same message without variation is not a good idea and is against the rules with some social media channels. On X posting ‘duplicative or substantially similar content’ is not allowed.

To make posting on social media easier, some people use a social media scheduler like Buffer or Hootsuite although use this approach with care. You don’t want to look like a robot!

Make your posts stand out!

We know that each social media platform has its own best practices for formatting updates. Let’s focus on X for a moment and take a look at the sorts of tweets that are more likely to stand out.

You can just share the title of your post and the link but is this really going to be noticed in a busy stream of tweets?

Compare these two tweets about the same post and consider which one would stand out more…

Images, emojis, quotes, summaries of information, GIFs, videos etc. can all help to make a tweet stand out and encourage others to read it, share it, and/or click on the link to the post.

3) Set Up An Email Subscription

How are people keeping up to date with blogs?

Traditionally, people would subscribe to get email notifications of new posts on blogs they enjoy reading. Or they’d use an RSS Feeder (a popular one is Feedly. You can read more about how this works here).

Email and RSS are still being used, however, things have changed a little.

These days, many readers keep up with blogs through social media rather than email or RSS.

Why is social media a popular way to follow blogs?

Perhaps:

• People are getting more emails than ever before so are becoming more selective with what subscriptions they sign up for. They might only subscribe to a handful of their favorite blogs.
• Some individuals are becoming more satisfied with consuming information serendipitously.

Should I bother with an email subscription?

Social media is a great way to share but here are a few thoughts to keep in mind about the power of offering an email subscription:

• Having an email subscription option is going to allow your most loyal and valuable members of your community to stay in touch with you.
• There are no guarantees that people in your network will see your posts on social media. You can’t control that. Offer your readers a channel to make sure they don’t miss your content.
• Email is much more personal than social media. Your readers can hear directly from you and it can help to build a relationship.

How To Make An Email Subscription

So we’ve established that it’s definitely a good idea to have some sort of option available for readers who would like to subscribe to your blog via email.

Now you have two choices. Do you want to use an automated service? Or do you want to create a handcrafted newsletter style email that you send out on a regular basis?

Automated Email Subscription Widget

If you’re using Edublogs Pro, did you know you can add a simple email subscription widget on the sidebar of your blog?

Subscribers will receive an email automatically to alert them to new posts. You can choose to send a full post, complete with all images, or a post excerpt.

Find out how to activate the email subscription widget here.

Create An Email Newsletter

It’s becoming increasingly common for bloggers to create their own newsletter using an email service provider. 

There are many email service providers out there and many are free to use until you reach a certain number of subscribers. If you’re interested in comparing different email service providers, check out this guide from ProBlogger. 

When you use an email service provider, you can either:

• Automatically send out emails to people on your list when a new post is published.
• Create a personal email to your email list telling them about your new post(s). Generally, you might give an introduction to the post and ask them to click to visit your blog and read your post. You might send this out every time you publish a new post or at regular intervals (weekly, monthly etc.).

MailChimp Tips And Information

One of the most popular email service providers is MailChimp.

• It is free to use up to 250 subscribers.
• MailChimp uses a simple drag and drop editor and offers a range of different templates for the design of your newsletter.
• There are also different options for creating sign-up forms. You’ll probably want a sign-up form on the sidebar of your blog but you might also include it at the bottom of your blog posts, in a page on your blog, or as a ‘landing page’ that you can share on social media.

Check out the Getting Started With MailChimp guide for more information.

4) Encourage Others To Share Your Content

It’s ideal if people who are reading your posts share it with others. This can be a great way to find new audience members.

Everyone has their own tribe or network. If someone from your network introduces your work to others in their own network, the results can be exponential!

Consider putting a call to action in every blog post asking your readers to share it on social media or share it with colleagues if it resonated with them.

You can also use a variety of plugins to encourage your readers to share your posts.

Let’s take a look at Scriptless Social Sharing and Jetpack.

Scriptless Social Sharing

Scriptless Social Sharing is a lightweight plugin that adds social sharing buttons to your posts and pages, making it easy for readers to share your content.

You can display the sharing buttons above and/or below your posts, and choose which social networks you’d like to include.

Since it uses simple sharing links (no JavaScript), it’s a great option if you want fast, no-fuss sharing buttons.

You can also display the social sharing buttons using a shortcode, so you can place them anywhere on your site.

Jetpack Plugin

Jetpack is a powerful plugin that adds several different features and tools to your blog, some of these make it easier for others to share your posts.

Once you’ve activated Jetpack, you might like to activate:

• Publicize: Makes it easy to share your posts on social networks automatically when you publish a new post. Learn more.
• Sharing: Enables you to add sharing buttons to your posts so that your readers can easily share your content on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks. Learn more.

Check out our help guide for more instructions on setting up Jetpack.

5) Be An Audience

The final tip is a simple one that’s often overlooked: If you want to have an audience you need to be an audience.

This might involve:

• Subscribing to some blogs you like via email or RSS (e.g. Feedly). Or, following bloggers on social media.
• Sharing blog posts that resonate with you on social media; support other bloggers.
• Leave comments on posts that you enjoyed, leave you curious, or challenge your thinking.

Rather than being a passive reader, try to find a way to be active in your approach to really support others in your community (e.g. sharing, commenting, connecting).

Follow this approach in an authentic way and show genuine interest in others. Apart from learning a lot and building your PLN, you might find your audience begins to build naturally as well.

As you get to know other bloggers, you might also consider guest posting. It could introduce you to a new network of readers and you could be helping a fellow blogger too.

How does guest posting work?

• You might connect with someone who has a small but engaged network of readers.
• Arrange to write a relevant guest post on each other’s blogs.
• The guest post could include a short introduction with a link to your blog, and/or a bio at the bottom of the post.
• Perhaps some of those readers will start following you and vice versa. Win-win!

Conclusion: Stick With It!

If you ask any blogger who has a reasonable sized audience, they will no doubt tell you they started with a very small number of readers.

Building your audience takes time, patience, and a commitment to stick with it. Need help building momentum with your blog? Check out this post. 

Remember, the rewards will be worth it!

As George Couros said as he reflected on his 8 years of blogging,

Blogging has helped my learning grow significantly because I have done it consistently for myself, not necessarily for an audience. Knowing an audience is there though, has made me think a lot deeper about what I share though, and it helps me create a “360 Degree View” of my learning; I do my best to focus on all angles of what I am sharing before I share it.

Dean Shareski has also boldly stated, 

I’ve yet to hear anyone who has stuck with blogging suggest it’s been anything less than essential to their growth and improvement. I’ve no “data” to prove this but I’m willing to bet my golf clubs that teachers who blog are our best teachers.

We think so too.

New To Blogging?

There are so many benefits to having a class blog! A class blog can a virtual space that complements a physical learning environment for all age groups.

If you don’t know anything about blogging, don’t worry! We have a free self-paced course for teachers that walks you step-by-step through the process of setting up a class blog and blogging with students.

You can even join our 30 Day Challenge at any time to complete the 11 step course over a period of one month.

In this post, we’ll show you 10 ways you can introduce your class to blogging. Be sure to share any of your own ideas or experiences in a comment!

1) Introductory Video

If your students are new to blogging (or need a refresher) you might want to start by showing them this short video.

The video goes through the terminology of blogging and explains how blogs are used. For a simple follow-up activity, check out this blogging vocabulary crossword.

2) Kahoot!

Have you caught on to the Kahoot! craze? It’s a free tool that allows you to create and play engaging learning games (called Kahoots).

The multiple-choice questions appear on the screen in the classroom and students submit their responses in real time using their computer, tablet, or mobile device. Students can work in teams and can work for points (most correct answers and quickest responses).

It’s a lot of fun!

We’ve made an Introduction To Blogging Kahoot. It goes over some of the key terms, vocabulary, and uses of blogs. There are 15 multiple choice questions.

How To Play Our Blogging Kahoot

To access the Kahoot, click on this link.

You don’t need an account to play, however; you will need to log in if you want to edit the quiz (we encourage you to adapt it for your own students if necessary).

You also need to be signed in to save results.

You’ll have the option for your students to play against each other individually (classic mode) or in teams.

You’ll also have a variety of game options you can play around with (see below).

Once you finalize your selections, a game pin number will show up. Students will go to the Kahoot app on their device, or to https://kahoot.it/ and enter the pin number to begin!

3) Blog Exploration

Having your students explore examples of different blogs can help them learn more about blogging and gather ideas.

If you’ve blogged with students in previous years, you might opt for your new cohort to look at former students’ work.

Alternatively, we have a list of class blogs that might be helpful. Check it out here. You might like to simply send students to this list, or handpick a few blogs that you’d like your class to look at specifically.

The blog exploration could be a whole class exercise or students could work in small groups.

You may like to prompt students with a series of questions you’d like them to take note on, such as:

• What is the writing style like on the blog — casual, formal, academic?
• What safety or blogging guidelines can you find on the blog?
• How are pages used for static information?
• Are the posts time specific or ‘evergreen’?
• What images and multimedia are being used?
• Is there a sidebar? What is its purpose?
• How has the text been formatted to make it easier to read — are there headings, bullet points, or colors etc?
• How does digital writing differ from analog with hyperlinks etc?

This exploration can lead to a valuable classroom discussion; students could share ideas and examples that they could bring to your own class blog.

4) Paper Blogging

Paper blogging is a concept that has been going around for years. It can make the abstract concept of blogging really concrete for students.

These are the basic steps you’d follow to try paper blogging:

• Have students handwrite a blog post on paper (make it simple, like a hobby or recount of something that happened at school).
• Put paper blog posts on walls or around the room for everyone to read.
• Using sticky notes, all the other students can comment on the paper blog posts.
• You can have discussions about what makes a great comment and how blogging can create a community in your classroom.

5) Safety Guidelines

It’s a good idea to discuss or inform students of your safety guidelines for your blog ASAP.

As students are exploring other blogs, you might have them look at safety guidelines to see what information is being published. Have them consider what information might be kept private? What are they not seeing?

The visual below might provide some useful reminders or discussion starters. While there are many things that definitely shouldn’t be shared in your blog posts and comments (YAPPY), there are some grey areas.

Students should be encouraged to think before they post and always discuss anything they’re unsure about with an adult before posting.

6) Begin With The Teacher Posting

Having the teacher publish posts first, and having the students comment can be a really good way to set the scene for a quality blogging program. It gives you the opportunity to teach the students explicitly about quality commenting while helping them learn the basics of blogging.

Even if you want students to be publishing posts down the track, strongly consider having the teacher publish first. This could even be an introductory post where students can practice leaving quality comments to introduce themselves and answer comments.

Having the teacher post and students comment might be the model you continue with for the whole year, or after a post or two, you might have students post on the class blog, or on their own blogs. Often, this depends on age and experience as well.

Many teachers like to give a gradual release of responsibility as demonstrated in the graphic below.

*Note the option for students to ‘earn a blog’ is something some teachers try if they’re just starting out, teach young children, or face obstacles like limited technology.

Some teachers also have a selected group of interested students set up a blog — perhaps in the style of a ‘blogging club’. This leads to our next idea…

7) Have Students Lead

Teachers don’t have to be the expert when it comes to setting up your blogging program. While you’ll definitely want to keep an eye on things, especially in terms of what’s being published and your safety guidelines, you can have students help other students learn about blogging.

Perhaps you could have a small group of students dedicate some time to learning about blogging (perhaps through the Student Blogging Bootcamp — see below).

Your ‘tech-perts’ could then come up with some activities to introduce the rest of the class to the blog. I’ve even heard of students in classes setting up ‘online courses’ for other students in their class!

8) Student Blogging Bootcamp

If you’re interested in assigning your students a self-paced course which walks them through the process of setting up their own blog, check out our free Student Blogging Bootcamp.

There are 10 steps in the course. You could assign students one step per period, or let them work through the whole series at their own pace. Alternatively, you could pick and choose and just assign students a handful of the steps.

Have a look through the course and see what would work for your class!

9) Student Blogging Challenge

Every March and September, the 8 week Student Blogging Challenge is held.

The challenge is made up of a series of 8 weekly tasks all designed to improve blogging and commenting skills while connecting students with a global audience.

The Student Blogging Challenge is totally free and open to students or classes from all over the world, using any blogging platform. It’s most suitable for students between the ages of 8-16.

The next challenge begins October 6, 2019. Find out more by exploring the Student Blogging Challenge website. Registrations will open in September.

10) Involve Families

One of the many benefits of having a class blog is the strengthening of home-school relationships. It’s never too soon in the school year to start involving families. Families and students can learn about blogging together!

Long time blogger Linda Yollis has found the first posts of the school year can be ideal for connecting with families and students.

Check out Linda’s Welcome Back 2018-2019 post. It includes a personal video message and an invitation for students and parents to comment together.

There were many rich commenting conversations between members of the classroom community. What a great way to learn!

If you’re looking for more ideas on how to educate and involve families in your blogging program, check out Step Six of our Blogging With Students Teacher Challenge.

Cybercriminals have firmly set their sights on higher education.

According to the 2025 UK Cyber Security Breaches Survey, about 91% of higher education institutions identified a cybersecurity breach or attack in the past year, much higher than the ~43% of UK businesses that reported the same.

This is no surprise: personal data (of everyone from alumni to staff to faculty), academic research, and cross-institutional records make attractive targets for hackers.

Several cybersecurity incidents have been publicly announced by higher-education institutions, such as:

• A University of Maryland database breach targeting the university’s network revealed the records of 287,570 affiliated personnel, students, faculty, and staff
• A hack of UCLA’s health system may have exposed records of more than 4 million patients
• A 2023 ransomware attack on the University of Manchester resulted in the theft and public leak of sensitive staff and student data after the university refused to pay the ransom

The information at risk is often that of young individuals laying the foundation for their education and professional lives. Imagine a hacker with access to your Social Security number while you’re still 18. How could that disrupt your ability to get a loan, buy a car or get a job? A decade later, what would happen when you apply for a housing mortgage?

Colleges and universities find themselves locked in a costly arms race as they try to install new tools and modify their tactics to mitigate the latest cyber attacks. However, the attackers continue to switch schemes, find ways around the tools, and hit different victims.

In other words, technological defenses can only go so far. No matter how versatile an institution’s cybersecurity software may be, its end users lead the line of defense during an attack.

That’s where security awareness comes in.

Awareness often takes a backseat due to the busy lives of faculty, and hectic schedule of students. However, it’s important to educate faculty, students, and staff about security awareness if higher education wants to stand a chance against digital crime.

What Can Higher Education Institutions Do to Raise Awareness?

Security is a success-driver when done right, and a considerable risk with potentially devastating consequences when it fails.

Here are five ways higher education institutions can raise awareness on security.

1) Simulated Phishing Exercises

Students, faculty, and staff can be educated on security via simulated phishing.

Universities can build phishing campaigns in-house, where IT can send out fake phishing emails with embedded links. Anyone who clicks on any of the links is redirected to a web page that informs them of the simulation exercise and provides further security-related information.

Alternatively, institutions can partner with organizations who offer phishing simulations in the form of videos, modules, and games. Most vendors will be able to customize awareness training to fit the needs of several types of institutions.

2) Data-Sharing Lectures

Students and faculty members share a variety of personal data through apps and other online services. Specific apps ask to access or use far more data than they need in exchange for free services, and some of them are designed by adversaries who are looking for gateways into institutions.

Personal data can be used to guess passwords and gain access to a device that may contain sensitive data about a college or university. Therefore, lectures should be arranged about data sharing via mobile apps and social networking sites, where the focus should be on reading user agreements to check the amount of data requested before someone downloads a new game or tries a new service.

3) Incentives

Incentives can help boost behavior changes, and industries have turned to using awards to make security-awareness education more interesting.

For instance, schools may award prizes to students, faculty, and staffers who flag a vulnerability, while the IT department may compete for a monetary reward based on who can identify the most security threats.

On the flip side, those who engage in unsecured browsing and device usage behavior will hear about it too. In fact, incentives may encourage staffers to take their institution’s security seriously and become part of the first line of defense against attackers.

4) Institution-Wide Security Hygiene

Everyone from students to external stakeholders should be educated on the significance of security hygiene.

Colleges need to start enforcing an acceptable-use policy, where all devices and workstations are locked down by stakeholders and signed out when they’re inactive. Training programs should be set up to educate end users about the importance of strong passwords and timely updates of devices’ operating systems.

Research what individuals require and create baseline rules for essential security controls that should be followed at all times. Students can also be asked to access university applications through a secure portal that keeps data secure and doesn’t place restrictions on student-owned devices.

5) Executive On-Campus Sponsorship

Get buy-in from campus leaders to ensure that a culture of security spreads through an institution. Top individuals, like the president of the student union, can be tasked with the executive responsibility to drive awareness and keep things on track, and they should report to the upper management directly.

This will give institutions the best opportunity to ensure that their security goals are balanced with other risks, like lack of student interest. To keep interest high, campus leaders can arrange events like a “security awareness day” with activities.

Conclusion

Security awareness offers several key benefits to higher-education institutions. It helps them facilitate behavioral change to mitigate potential risks, comply with laws, and reduce unnecessary cost.

However, instead of relying entirely on information-security professionals to prevent infiltration and minimize vulnerabilities, institutions should bank on the persons within to learn and digest new information about security.

By taking the measures mentioned above, schools will be in a better position to create a culture of continuous learning and security awareness.

Take a moment to think about this quote…

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories, was lucky enough to rediscover his love of literature in his later years. Is this true for all students?

What role do teachers play in instilling a passion for learning and a love of reading? What impact do reading logs, chapter studies, exams, worksheets, teacher-generated questions and so on have on a student’s love of reading?

As avid readers, we’d love to share an author we’ve recently come to appreciate with some lessons that may be useful to everyone in the education community.

About Sir Arthur Conan Doyle And Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes wasn’t the first fictional detective but he is the most portrayed literary human being in film and TV in history. The Sherlock Holmes stories have had a profound and lasting effect on mystery writing and popular culture.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories, has been credited as an influence to forensic science as a result of Holmes’ use of methods such as fingerprints, trace evidence, serology, ciphers, and footprints long before they were commonly used by the police.

Lesson — we’re not bound by what’s already possible. Anyone is capable of invention and creativity. 

From Humble Beginnings

The first Sherlock Holmes story, “A Study in Scarlet”, first appeared in print in 1887 after it was rejected by about five publishers. It was finally accepted by Ward, Lock & Co, who specialized in cheap and often sensational literature, for £25 for the copyright.

The book was published in Benton’s Xmas Annual of 1887 and Arthur Conan Doyle never received any further money from the sale of the book. His follow up Holmes novel, “The Sign of Four”, published in 1890 fared slightly better but it wasn’t until Conan Doyle published Holmes as a series of short stories in The Strand magazine did he go onto to become a popular author — and the highest paid of his time.

Lesson — resilience and determination often lead to success. 

Watch Treasures of the Sherlock Holmes Collections to see an original copy of “A Study in Scarlet” and to learn more about The Strand Magazine.

Practice and Persistence

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s story is no different from others that go on to achieve greatness in any field — science, engineering, sports, or the arts; it’s more about practice and persistence than innate talent.

Conan Doyle’s literary journey didn’t start with his Sherlock Holmes stories and he didn’t give up when his stories or novels weren’t received as well as he would have liked.

This is why he continues to inspire new generations 88 years after his death and 131 years after the first Sherlock Holmes novel was published.

Lesson — we all have our own stories to tell or legacy to share. Sometimes the impact will be astounding.

Impact of Sherlock Holmes’ Death

On a side note, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle says in his memoirs that,

If I had never touched Holmes, who has tended to obscure my higher works, my position in the literature would … be a more commanding one.

Conan Doyle even killed off Holmes in the “Final Problem” published in The Strand Magazine in December 1893.

Tired of writing about Holmes, he wanted to focus on writing what he considered more serious literature. On a practical level, writing out twelve short stories, each with unique plots, in a year would have been hard work.

His fans weren’t happy — more than 20,000 Strand readers canceled their subscription, outraged by Holmes demise.

Eight years later, in 1901, he published “The Hound of the Baskervilles” as a serial in The Strand Magazine set before Holmes dies in the “Final Problem” and in 1903 he resurrected Holmes in “The Adventure of the Empty House”.

Serialization of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” in 1901-1902 was estimated to have increased the magazine’s circulation by 30,000 — with Conan Doyle being paid £480 – £620 per episode.

Lesson — learn when to follow your heart and when it’s important to listen to others.

For More Inspiration

It’s impossible to do justice to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and all his literary, and other work, in this short post.

Read his Sherlock Holmes stories! They are suitable for young adults upwards.

Being reluctant to read his stories after watching the different movie and TV adaptations, we now appreciate how amazing his stories are and how they’ve withstood the test of time.

The hardest part was working on where to start so here’s our recommendation of order to read:

1. A Study in Scarlet (1887) – introduces Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.
2. The Sign of Four (1890) – introduces Dr. Watson’s future wife Mary.
3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – 12 short stories published in The Strand in 1891-1892 with the most famous being “A Scandal in Bohemia” which introduces Irene Adler.
4. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes – 11 short stories published in The Strand in 1892-1893 with the most famous being “The Final Problem” which kills off Sherlock Holmes.
5. The Return of Sherlock Holmes – 13 short stories published in The Strand in 1903-1904 with the most famous being “The Adventure of the Empty House” where Sherlock Holmes is resurrected.
6. The Hound of the Baskervilles – serialized in the Strand in 1901-1902. Considered by many as the best Sherlock Holmes novel.
7. The Valley of Fear – serialized in The Strand from 1914–1915.
8. His Last Bow: Some Later Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes – stories published 1908–1917.
9. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes – stories published 1921–1927.

You can read as individual novels or you’ll find them all in The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

To learn more about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle refer to:

1. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle “Memories and Adventures”  – provides good insight but isn’t the easiest biography I’ve read.
2. Arthur Conan Doyle Interviewed on Sherlock Holmes and Spirituality – 10 minute interview on YouTube from 1930.
3. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – The Stamp of Greatness – Documentary 1985 – 26 minute video on YouTube.
4. The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – BBC Radio – 43 minute audio from BBC radio documentary in 1980.

Final Reflection

Reading opens up a whole world of new insights and perspectives. The joy of reading is too important to not instill or encourage in every student.

After reading this post, we’d love you to share one of your favorite authors with your students. Or perhaps tell them about Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes.