ePals wasn't to my
liking, so I asked my school's tech coordinator for other options. He suggested
a low-cost alternative that allowed personalization of student blogs in a
closed environment. I was interested enough to look further. This was how I
started working with 21Classes.com
Simple Design,
Moderate Cost
21Classes.com allows educators to create a blogging
environment which they control with a homepage known as a "portal". Each
student who creates an account (verified by the teacher, of course) becomes
part of the class blog.
When a student posts, a snippet of the blog displays on the
portal page for all portal members to see. Clicking on the title takes the
surfer to the author's blog and the full entry. Students can subscribe to each
other's blogs to follow their favorite student authors, and can even leave
comments and ratings of 0 to 3 stars. Comment and blog moderation is also an
option, so teachers can choose to approve any post prior to publication.
Unfortunately, 21Classes.com isn't as consumer-friendly as
it used to be. Educators could sign up for a free account and get 50 free
student accounts. That was good enough to get me through most courses that I
taught, and it allowed me to create a different account for each course. If you
needed to go above 50 accounts, then there was an $8.95 monthly fee. Bulk
pricing allowed up to 100 teacher accounts, but was somewhat pricey ($200 per/month
– granted, only $2 per teacher account). I was allowed one paid account for a course
with three sections (and 85 students), and the use of free accounts for my remaining
classes.
After the recession hit, 21Classes.com gave teachers only10
free accounts instead of 50.. This mandates that you either have multiple
accounts for each class, or move to a paid subscription. I don't blame 21Classes
for going in this direction, but the site isn't as good a bargain as it used to
be. My school paid $90 a year for my one course, and I was able to run free accounts
for four other courses. Ultimately, this limitation may force me to look to
EduBlogs for their free service while keeping my paid account with 21Classes.
EduBlogs – A Division
of WordPress
Another option is EduBlogs, which seems to have a cleaner
design than 21Classes. EduBlogs has many of the same features that WordPress
offers its regular users, but is in a controlled environment. It isn't quite as
user-friendly as 21Classes.com, but does have some advantages.
EduBlogs allows text editing, video posts, and advanced
formatting far beyond the simple style used by 21Classes. There's also a free
version of the site, although it's limited to only the most basic functions,
albeit with no limitation on student accounts.
There is a complex upgrade package that allows educators to
dial their way up from free usage to using the site for a small fee that
decreases based on length of sign-up. The upgrade costs $6.95 on a
month-to-month basis, or $3.33 per month with a 12-month term. There is also an
offering called EduBlog Campus which, while pricey, allows a district to offer
it to an increasing number of teachers. The smallest plan, which offers all the
bells and whistles of the upgraded package for up to 100 teacher accounts,
comes with a $900/year price tag. If a school district has 100 teachers looking
to use a common blog experience (allowing students to have a common platform –
once they learn how to post, they know it for all classes), EduBlog Campus is a
bargain. For larger districts, unlimited teacher account packages with all
sorts of support enhancements will set the district back $6500/year. Keep in
mind, however, that this seems to be the Cadillac Escalade of teacher blogs.
In conclusion, my best advice is to start free and figure
out what your needs are. From there, you can pick which platform best fits your
style and approach. Be sure to use your tech coordinator, too. And use your
colleagues as resources. There is no sense trying something that several other
people have found difficult to use or that students have struggled with in the
past.
Related Readings
(please note that hyperlinks will not work until future blogs
are posted):
Part 1 – Student
Blogging Communities - Blogging About Blogging? (Part 1)
Part 2 – Student
Blogging Communities - Free Opportunities Are Out There (Part 2)
Part
3 – Student
Blogging Communities - Pay to Play (Part 3)
Resources:
http://21publishblog.21publish.com/
http://edublogs.org/campus/
http://edublogs.org/campus/licences/
http://pmody.edublogs.org/
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