Where do I start with blogging?

Blogging is a newer technology that is making it's way into education.  The opportunities are endless -- a teacher could post daily homework, a professor could create a community blog for students to post and respond to each other, or a student could use a blog as a daily learning log or reading journal. 

Below is a table comparing three of the most popular blogging services, Blogger, LiveJournal, and TypePad.  Before deciding on one, you may want to play around with the different services to see which one works for you.  Two are free, but TypePad offers a 30 day free trial before asking for payment.  More advanced users may be using blogging software and uploading to their own hosting server, but if all of those words confuse you, look into an online service.

My personal favorite is TypePad at the Plus level.  TypePad allows me to have my own web presence, and three separate blogs for separate areas of my life.   It is easily updated, their photo album service is phenomenal, and I like the archiving, Rich Text editing, and easily customizable templates.  Of all the services, I find that TypePad is the easiest and most instinctive to work with, and I think that many novices would find the ease of use worth the expense.  The Pro level would be ideal for a school or department that was interested in finding an inexpensive way to get on the web.

Blogger is a great free service.  There are no banner ads, and its user interface is easy to navigate.  It does not, however, have password protection, which may be important in a school setting.  It also has poor archiving; not being able to click through entries in chronological order is irritating.  Most services have automatic linking of "previous entry" and "next entry," and that feature is missed in Blogger.  For photo hosting, Blogger. refers you to third party services instead of making it an embedded feature.  Blogger.would best be used as a homework hotline type of blog, making sure to not identify students by name or other specific details.

LiveJournal would be best used in a classroom environment with students.  Each student could create their own LiveJournal as well as the teacher, and if every one involved made their journal Friends Only, and then added each classmate as  a Friend, no outside source could access student journals. (The Friends system only allows LiveJournal users that have a reciprocal Friendship listing to view entries.) In the age of Internet safety, this would be an easy and affordable solution to classroom blogging.

There are many other services available, and you may find one that works better for you than those listed here. 


For More Information:

Blogs in Education

Leading Internet Scholar Addresses Blogs in Education

2004 Edublog Awards
Blogging Services Comparison Chart

888
FEATURE
 Blogger
www.blogger.com
 LiveJournal
www.livejournal.com
 TypePad
www.typepad.com
Price: Basic
 Free
 Free
 $4.95/month
Price: Advanced
 N/A
 $2.50/Month
$25/Year
 Plus: $8.95/month 
Pro: $14.95/month
Photo Hosting
 Not included, available through third party service
 Yes, with additional fee.
 Basic: No
Plus: 100MB 
Pro: 200MB
Rich Text Editing of Posts
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
Comments
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
Privacy Features Search Engine Spider Blocking  (HTML )
 Friends List, Search Engine Spider Blocking (HTML), User Banning
 Password Protection of Entire Website, Individual Blogs, Individual Photoblogs; and Search Enging Spider Blocking (HTML knowledge not required.)
Mobile
Posting
 Yes: Email
 Paid accounts: Email, Phone
 Basic: No
Pro & Plus: Yes, Email
Multiple Blogs No*
 No*
 Plus: up to 3, Pro: Unlimited
Multiple Authors
 Yes
 No
 Pro
Domain Forwarding
 No
 Paid Accounts
 Basic: No
Plus & Pro: Yes, & Domain Mapping
Template Editing
 Limited, HTML
 Limited, HTML
 Yes, Basic & Advanced
Pro: Basic, Advanced, & HTML
More Information
 Blogger Basics
 LiveJournal Feature List
LiveJournal Account Comparison

 TypePad Feature List
TypePad Account Comparison
Teacher Example
 http://msfrizzle.blogspot.com/
"The adventures of a science teacher in a small public middle school in the Bronx. Apologies to Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen, creators of the Magic School Bus series and the original Ms. Frizzle."		 http://www.livejournal.com/community/teaching/
"The Teaching Community"
A community blog by teachers.
(Clicking on an author's name will take you to their personal LiveJournal, which may be Friends Only (locked) or about non-teaching topics you may find offensive. )
 http://hipteacher.typepad.com/schoolblog

"one redheaded girl's journey into the world of public education" (middle school)

* More than one blog may be created, but each is considered a separate account, and will be a separate subdomain of the service.