Our district has, however, had some success with Moodle, which allows students to work collaboratively in an "in-school" environment from home. English and social studies, in particular, seem to lend themselves to the types of discussion made easy in a blog. A blog could also be useful for staff team planning, particularly in situations where there is not a common prep time to allow for it face-to-face. A wiki could be useful here, as well.
Nicely done Holly. I am interested in using blogs to facilitate readers advisory. I would like to set up a blog for my 6th graders and allow them to post reviews of books.
ReplyDeleteThere are some blogs that allow a closed environment (and no email addresses) but you're right, you may need to get them unblocked. Blogger itself allows for a closed environment and teacher assigned accounts and Class Blogmeister is intended for classroom use.
ReplyDeleteMy district is also using Moodle to host pages for staff and students throughout the district. At the last tech meeting we had last Thursday, someone was talking about the new Moodle upgrade which will allow guest accounts. This would have potential for parents who could also become part of the discussions on a school governance page. I am interested in hearing how your district has had success with Moodle.
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