Edublogs


 * [|www.edublogs.org]**


 * Edublogs** is a free online WordPress blogging application founded in 2005 by James Farmer as an extension of the [|incsub.org] project aimed at providing teachers, students, researchers, librarians, writers and other education professionals with freely available emerging technologies. The blogging platform uses WordPress Multiple Users software (WPMU) which is currently being beta-tested by a half dozen sites on the web, including Edublogs. The site also offers Learnerblogs.org, ESLblogs.org, and UNIblogs.org. The good news, is that the site has currently been sponsored by a major European education company (chalkboard) so the liklihood of it being around for some time is quite good.


 * Security Levels:**
 * 1) Variety of security levels that is set by the teacher
 * 2) Teacher can set options for the blog that only those registered can make comments
 * 3) Teacher can control whether or not comments are held in moderation before they are published
 * 4) Some posts can be password protected
 * 5) Some posts can be held as "private" (for teacher's eyes only)
 * Ease of Use:**
 * 1) Within 5 minutes you can create a blog that is up and running and fully functional on the web
 * 2) Literally within an hour or two almost anyone can learn the ins-and-outs of how to create and manage their own blog
 * 3) Posting is easy for the teacher
 * 4) Commenting is easy for users visiting the blog
 * 5) As with all WordPress blogs, the use of **Categories** or tags makes it easier for the teacher to organize content, and the users to search for content on the blog without always having to view/browse content chronologically.
 * 6) Images are easily uploaded and published in posts (JPG, PNG, and GIF files)
 * 7) PDF, DOC, and MP3 files are easily uploaded and published in post
 * 8) The fact that the blog allows upload of MP3 files means that teachers/classes could publish their own podcasts directly onto the blog
 * Set-Up:**
 * 1) Easy set-up by user
 * 2) Housed on an out-of-district server
 * Look & Feel:**
 * 1) Can be customized through the use of "themes" or skins
 * 2) Can be cusomized through the **Administrative Area** and using the **Plugins Panel** and the **Options Panel**; these control how the blog functions and is determined by the user (teacher).
 * Cost:**
 * 1) Free


 * Pros:**
 * 1) This application will require no money for either software or hardware by the district
 * 2) This application will require **zero** effort and time from the SBISD IT department, which is presently very pressed for time
 * 3) If at some future date, the district decides to move their blogs to an in-house server, the blogs on Edublogs could be transferred over via an import feature using RSS feeds. I have successfully done this myself. //(kb//)
 * 4) Advertisement-free on blogs
 * 5) Caters to educators
 * 6) Easy to set-up and use
 * 7) Site also has Learnerblogs.org and ESLblogs.org
 * 8) Handles many types of files
 * 9) Because of the provision of the "static-front page" plugin, along with the ability to publish pages (versus posts), teachers can opt to use the Edublogs site as a traditional classroom website as opposed to a blog, or a combination of the two, if they so choose.


 * Cons:**
 * 1) Because its an WPMU (Wordpress Multiple User) application, teacher has no control over the plugins available, which could allow more functionality
 * 2) At the present time, you are unable to post SWF (Flash content) or Video files (WMV, MOV, MPEG, etc.)
 * 3) I am uncertain what it is, but there is a file-size restriction for uploading files mentioned previously (JPG, PNG, GIF, PDF, DOC, MP3)

Below is a list of educators using Edublogs and/or LearnerBlogs with their students.


 * 1) [|bloomer.edublogs.org/]:
 * 2) [|mccyeareight.learnerblogs.org/]
 * 3) [|mr-fisher.edublogs.org/]