App review by Kirstin Sobotka, Common Sense Education | Updated March 2014
Edublogs
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  • Download from App Store

Edublogs

Intuitive, safe tool lets students write for authentic audience

Get it now
  • Download from App Store
Learning rating
Editorial review by Common Sense Education
Community rating
Based on 1 review
Privacy rating
Not yet rated Expert evaluation by Common Sense
Grades
6–12 This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.
Subjects & Skills
English Language Arts, Communication & Collaboration, Creativity
Great for
Media Literacy, Assessment, Classroom Management, Instructional Design
Price:  Free to try, Paid $7.95/month or $39.95/year for Edublogs Pro, which is required for free student accounts.
Platforms:  Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
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Take a look inside

4 images
Get started with the free version or upgrade blog to include student blogs and extra features.
Students can participate in weekly blogging challenges.
Teacher dashboards are easy to navigate when creating, updating, and searching.
Search the catergorized gallery for blogging ideas and inspiration.

Pros: Creating student or teacher blogs is a snap; extensive user resources provide support, if needed.

Cons: Some of the best features are available only with a paid subscription.

Bottom Line: Simple but flexible tool lets teachers and students safely create, publish, and share content online.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Teachers might use Edublogs as their dedicated classroom website or as just one element of their class's community resources. They might set up individual pages for different classes and post information about upcoming class meetings or events to the relevant pages. Teachers with the paid version could create individual blogs for students, offering them an opportunity to track their own progress or assemble digital portfolios. The blogging format would provide a great starter platform for teachers wanting to try to flip part of their classroom because video and podcasts can be uploaded in addition to documents and images. Students can also particpate in the blogging challenges via their dashboard.

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Standards:

Edublogs offers a simple, visually appealing interface that teachers and students can use to create and publish content online. Teachers can create a free classroom blog without ads or spam; for a monthly fee, they can create individual blogs for their students that include such features as post moderation and password protection. Teachers create a username, password, and custom URL for their blog site and then customize the blog's themes, color schemes, and formats. Edublogs uses the Wordpress blogging platform, which has great built-in features for editing text and including media such as links and images. Although some features are only available for a fee, there's enough available with the free tools to create a dynamic class website. With the paid features, teachers can create a network of connected student blogs and also add more complex media, such as embedded video and HTML objects (like Google Docs).

Edublogs was created before the popularity of tablets, so the easiest way to blog for most users might still be through their desktop computers. However, the Edublogs app is a worthy alternative to posting from a browser. The app offers instant login to all of a user’s blogs, and it’s easy to toggle among them. The entire feature set that’s available on the Web is also available through the app -- a major boon to users who want consistency across the multiple platforms they might use to access their sites. Most strikingly, the app seems to be a faster, more fluid way than the browser to navigate Edublogs sites on a mobile device. This difference may be negligible to some, and many people might prefer to type at length on a keyboard rather than on a tablet screen. But for brief blog posts, reading, and commenting, Edublogs is exactly the app this speedy, flexible blogging platform deserves.

Blogging provides an opportunity for students to engage with language in an immediate, purposeful way, and, as such, can be a great tool for learning. Requiring students to read and comment on their teacher’s blog posts adds an immediacy to an assignment that other homework might lack. Additionally, blogging offers students the opportunity to create and publish their own content, which can be a great way for them to meaningfully and actively engage in analysis of a text, lab, or in-class activity. Writing a blog is different from writing for English class: The audience is larger, the stakes are higher, and some students thrive on the rhetorical challenge of organizing and articulating their thoughts for a larger audience. Additionally, a class blog can be a helpful way for a teacher to share information with colleagues, students, and parents, all of which can contribute to a more connected learning community.

Overall Rating
Engagement Would it motivate students and hold their interest? Is it visually appealing? Would it inspire teachers to try something new or change their instruction?

Straightforward, flexible tools for posting text and media securely online will engage and empower students to create, publish, and communicate.

Pedagogy Does the tool help teachers promote a more student-centered experience? Will students gain conceptual understanding or think critically? Does it deepen teachers’ pedagogical thinking?

While blogging alone doesn't necessarily develop academic skills, writing for authentic audiences can support and develop core ELA skills.

Support Can students and teachers get assistance when they need it? Is it created with people of different abilities and backgrounds in mind? Is learning reinforced and extended beyond the digital experience?

User-support resources are extensive, including a detailed online user guide, video tutorials, and a lively support forum. 

Common Sense reviewer
Kirstin Sobotka Classroom teacher
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Key Standards Supported

Writing

  • W.7.4

    Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

  • W.7.6

    Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources.

  • W.7.10

    Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

  • W.8.4

    Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

  • W.8.6

    Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

  • W.8.10

    Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

  • W.9-10.4

    Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

  • W.9-10.6

    Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

  • W.9-10.10

    Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

  • W.11-12.4

    Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

  • W.11-12.6

    Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.

  • W.11-12.10

    Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes

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Community Rating

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Featured review by
Ashley R. ,
Rockrimmon Elementary School
Colorado Springs, United States
my snappy is that now i know to hepl kids i did know how but thay did not understand what i was saing amthing.
This app helps me and my students so i can help my students if they don't understand something or if they have questions about what they are doing so that they know I'm her to help and the app helps me teach better than how i was teaching before.
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