December 2011
2 posts
Two New Features for Managing Multiple Classes
Kidblog has released two new features to help teachers expand their blogs’ audience and more efficiently manage posts across multiple Kidblog classes.
Sharing Your Blogs with Other Kidblog Classes
The first new feature allows blog administrators to easily provide other Kidblog classes with access your class blogs. Do you manage multiple Kidblog classes? Do you know of another Kidblog...
2 tags
New Themes Available
The Kidblog Development team is pleased to announce the release of three new themes for your class blogs.
Kidblog Bluebird
Light-colored with a tall header, based on an original design by Randa Clay.
Kidblog Notepad
Notepad theme with dynamic, organic background. Based on original design by Evan Eckard and Smashing Magazine.
Kidblog Waterlily
Dark background with prominent waterlily...
August 2011
2 posts
5 tags
New Knowledgebase and Help-Ticket System
Kidblog.org introduces its new Knowledgebase and help-ticket system.
The addition of a variety of technical support articles will give current and future users a quick reference for our most frequently-asked questions. If you’re stuck on a task related to blog management, this is the place to start.
In addition, our new help-ticket system will streamline the process of resolving...
3 tags
New Features for Kidblog.org
Major Upgrade: More Features for Teachers and Students
The Kidblog development team has released a new version of Kidblog.org with many new features.
Threaded Comments: Allow readers to leave nested replies to specific comments, in addition to the standard chronological order.
Rich-Text Comments: Add images, fonts, color, and more to comments.
Tags: Authors can now tag posts for easier...
March 2011
1 post
3 tags
February 2011
1 post
Kidblog.org Completes Major Server Upgrades
Kidblog.org users will notice an immediate improvement in server responsiveness as a result of significant upgrades to our network infrastructure.
Kidblog.org continues to grow in popularity around the world. As we approach 500,000 users, we’ve doubled our server capacity in order to maintain the highest possible level of service. We offer sincere apologies to those of you who...
October 2010
4 posts
5 tags
7 Fantastic Free Social Media Tools for Teachers →
Kidblog.org was featured again by Mashable.com. Kidblog was featured as the #5 social media tool for teachers.
4 tags
Yes, Reading is Still Fundamental →
A nice short article from the We are Teachers blog reiterating the importance of reading and its impact on writing skills. In a text messaging world, the fundamentals of reading and writing are more relevant that ever.
5 tags
Minnov8 Gang Podcast: R U Kidding about KidBlog? →
Kidblog.org co-founder, Dan Flies, was interviewed on the weekly Minnov8 podcast.
http://minnov8.com/2010/10/08/minnov8-gang-97-r-u-kidding-about-kidblog/
4 tags
"HOW TO: Help Your Child Set Up a Blog" from... →
Mashable has another story featuring Kidblog.org. This time, writer Sarah Kessler gives parents some tips on setting up a blog for their kids. Kidblog is featured as a place where parents can more easily monitor posts and comments.
Check out the story!
September 2010
6 posts
5 tags
Mashable: The Case for Social Media in Schools →
Kidblog.org was featured today in a story on social media in schools. Kidblog.org co-founder, Matt Hardy, was interviewed for the story. He related some of his personal stories introducing blogging to his classroom in 2007.
“Students aren’t just writing on a piece of paper that gets handed to the teacher and maybe a smiley face or some comments get put on it,” he says. “Blogging was a way to get...
6 tags
Literacy Award for School's Literacy Program →
The Canadian Council of the Federation of Literacy awarded the Saskatoon Public School’s Literacy for Life program leader for its outstanding contribution in advancing literacy and learning.
“Literacy makes a difference in life beyond education. It impacts health, justice and careers, and we know we become a stronger society when we achieve higher literacy levels.” Read...
2 tags
Meet a Kidblog.org Teacher in Vermont! →
The Burlington (VT) Free Press did a story on Wilson Central Middle School teacher Tara Weegar, a Kidblog teacher!
How do you use technology in your classroom?
There’s this argument that technology takes away from a child’s creativity, but I disagree with that. It actually allows you to be more creative because it’s so immediate. You don’t have to be afraid to make...
4 tags
Kidblog.org Featured in Twin Cities Business... →
Twin Cities Business Magazine, local business magazine, just featured Kidblog.org on its Start Me Up blog. Check out the story.
5 tags
Target Shifts Gifts to Literacy →
Target Corp. is shifting its 5% giving program all to one issue, child literacy. The gifts is expected to total over $500 million will focus on getting kids to read by the third grade. We applaud this effort by Target. Inherent in the mission at Kidblog.org is the advancement of childhood literacy through writing and sharing.
Major Server Upgrade for Kidblog.org!
We’re proud to announce that Kidblog.org has undergone a massive server infrastructure upgrade this week.
Kidblog’s popularity is soaring among elementary and middle school teachers and students. As a result of this increased demand, our existing servers became taxed with the start of the new school year. Some users experienced brief periods of downtime during this transition...
July 2010
1 post
Learning and Leading Magazine Highlights... →
Scott Smeech at SMeech.net published an article about Kidblog.org in the June/July 2010 issue of Learning and Leading Magazine, published through ISTE. ISTE members can check out the article at http://www.iste.org/ll while others can view the republished content at smeech.net.
May 2010
1 post
EdTech Blogger Highlights Kidblog.org →
Michael Gorman took time to review Kidblog.org on his education technology blog. He spotlights features that are particularly valuable to teachers. Take a look at what he has to say, then give Kidblog a try for yourself!
April 2010
2 posts
4th Grade Teacher is "Cuckoo for KidBlogs!" →
Josh Bennett recently posted an article about using Kidblog with his 4th grade students.
He talks about how blogs motivate students to publish their writing for an authentic purpose for a real audience. He discusses his development of a blogging rubric utilizing elements from the 6 Traits of Writing.
Check out his succinct article for a nice taste of how student blogging can be en effective...
4 tags
Fifth-Grade Teacher Shares Kidblog Tips →
Lee Kolbert, fifth-grade teacher from Florida, gives insight into how her students use Kidblog as an engaging, authentic publishing space. In her view,
“There are lots of features that make Kidblog perfect for young bloggers.”
Lee’s article highlights the intuitive interface, privacy controls, teacher moderation options, and new support for iPhone publishing.
You can view her...
March 2010
1 post
Major Upgrade For Kidblog.org
Welcome to Latest Version of Kidblog!
Our development team has spent the past two months working tirelessly to bring you the most significant upgrade in Kidblog’s history. The upgrade is now official, and you and your students will notice the fantastic new features immediately.
For Teachers/Administrators:
User Management
Bulk-creation of users - our most-requested feature. Create up...
February 2010
3 posts
6 tags
Let Your Students Blog! →
Deb White, 2009 Association of Computer Technology Educators of Maine Educator of the Year, writes about using blogs as an educational tool at freetech4teachers.com.
“Blogs provide students with authentic writing experiences and teachers with powerful tools to help students improve writing skills.”
She continues to say that blogging can give students and effective way to learn...
A New Look for Kidblog.org
Kidblog.org underwent a makeover recently. We’ve updated the look of our homepage (http://kidblog.org), and added some features to the back-end administrative control panel for Kidblog classes.
We’re adding support for tracking blog statistics, with increased monitoring functionality for Administrators who oversee several classroom accounts.
Student accounts will not be affected by...
5 tags
Another Review of Kidblog →
Kidblog.org received another nice review from an educator’s blog. DKapuler gives a quick synopsis of the Kidblog and its features. Give it a quick read. (Some helpful screenshots are included, too.)
“I highly recommend giving Kidblog a try…” -DKapuler
January 2010
9 posts
8 tags
20 Ways to Become Teacher 2.0 →
An interesting article from The Teacher Chronicles website.
The first thing to do to upgrade to Teacher 2.0 is to learn.
Update: The website has moved and we have fixed the link to point to the new site.
6 tags
“KIDBLOG was created by teachers who understand the importance of student safety...”
– John Goldsmith - DE Tools of the Trade
10 tags
Another Great Reivew for Kidblog.org →
Another great review for Kidblog! This review comes from John Goldsmith’s blog, DE Tools of the Trade, at detools.ca. His website focuses on free online tools for distance education. Kidblog seems like a natural for distance education efforts.
We look forward to hearing more about John’s experience and suggestions for Kidblog improvements for the DE community.
5 tags
e-learning 2.0 – how Web technologies are shaping...
An article reminding us what educators were thinking 4, almost 5, years ago about web 2.0 and how it will impact the classroom and the limitations that still exist for educators trying to prepare kids for the digital age.
Melissa hits on a couple of key points that have heavily influenced Kidblog: simple and safe. We’re aiming eliminate many of of the hurdles that prohibit teachers from...
10 tags
After 10 Years, Federal Money for Technology in... →
Check out this new article from the New York Times.
Schools are going to get their own advanced research center for technology in the classroom. The new National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies will be like the National Science Foundation for core scientific research or DARPA for national defense (which gave us the internet and GPS). We all can look forward to...
4 tags
Elementary Students - Next Generation Bloggers
The Learning Today website posted a nice write up of Kidblog this week. Here is a quote from the end of the piece:
“The simple setup is perfect for student projects, especially those who are younger, and also teachers who are not as ‘tech-savvy’.”
Elementary Students - Next Generation Bloggers
3 tags
Kidblog.org Reivew from NSC-Tech
Check out this nice overview of Kidblog from Keven Jarrett at his NCS-Tech blog. Kevin explored how Kidblog works and tested some of the features that we offer. Kevin gives a great quote in his second paragraph:
“Came across a really neat site this morning… it’s by far the easiest blogging platform I’ve ever seen!”
If you’ve been curious about how Kidblog works and would...
“I have used www.kidblog.org for two weeks now - simple, great, kids like it.”
– A twitter quote from @RecessDuty
1 tag
Kidblog.org: Safe and Simple Blogging for Your...
This page will keep you updated with the latest news, feature announcements, and other information from the Kidblog.org team. Consider following this blog, or keep track of our Twitter updates. Happy Blogging!