Why+Kidblog?

There are many blogging platforms available, but we found [|Kidblog] to be the most user friendly and best fit for an elementary educational environment. Teachers of older students may wish to utilize another blogging platform. Dr. Wes Fryer has an informative blog post [|comparing the Kidblog and Edublog platforms] (the two most popular educational blogging platforms).

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 * =[[image:Why_kidblog.jpg align="right"]]Why We Chose the Kidblog Platform=
 * Kidblog is a free, safe, and secure blogging environment developed by teachers for educational use.
 * No ads on student blog site.
 * The teacher dashboard gives teachers access to all student blogs registered under his or her name making Kidblog safe to utilize with even the youngest students.
 * The dashboard gives teachers complete control to monitor and approve or reject any publishing activity on any student's blog page.
 * Student blogs are private by default (viewable by the teacher and class members only), but may at the teacher's discretion be made either semi-private, requiring a quest password to view, or public to the world.
 * Students are able to read and comment upon their classmate's blogs.
 * Outside source comments may be blocked through the teacher dashboard.
 * Kidblog does not collect any personal information about students or teachers.
 * When using the specific class URL, Kidblog uses a simple log-in menu that negates the need for individual user names. Students need only to remember their passwords.
 * The simple design focuses student attention on publishing rather than design.
 * The Kidblog directory makes it easy for students to find their classmates' blogs.
 * Students can "tag" posts, and in the process learn tagging protocols, which make searching for a particular post much easier.
 * Kidblog allows for easy media embedding. Simply paste the link to a supported provider (e.g. Vimeo, Youtube, etc.) and the embed code is generated automatically!
 * Native iPad and iPhone Publishing. Simply download the WordPress App.
 * In addition to giving students the opportunity to write for an audience, the blog format allows student's to increase their online social skills and discussion etiquette.
 * =Challenges Using Kidblog=
 * Since Kidblog does not require student email addresses, in fact does not accept them, students cannot retrieve their password if it is forgotten. They must ask the instructor to reset their password. (Note: Both Dr. Salemi and I have access to a master username and password list. In fact, I keep such a list in a Google Docs Spreadsheet that is shared without editing privileges with the entire staff. In this way, all teachers have access to student user names and passwords for school based online environments.)