Review by Stephanie Trautman, Common Sense Education | Updated October 2016

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Kidblog

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Safe, supportive blogs boost kids' writing skills and digital citizenship

Common Sense Says:

3

Rating Details

Teachers Say (41 Reviews):

4

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Grades

1-8 This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.

Great for:

See subjects & skills

Kidblog provides a safe and simple platform.

Adding a post is much like using a word processor: Kids will take to it easily.

It's up to the teacher to create meaningful learning opportunities.

Teachers can adjust privacy settings to create a safe space for blogging.

Teachers can create classes, add students, and more from the dashboard.

Pros: A straightforward and safe blogging experience that supports 21st-century skills.

Cons: This is just a platform; it's up to the teachers to make learning happen.

Bottom Line: It's a go-to resource for quick, safe, and easy student blogging.

Lesson & Activity Ideas

Use Kidblog as a platform for your students to publish their writing, audio, visual, or video projects. With the easy embedding features from other services like Edmodo and Glogster, the sky is the limit in terms of the creativity kids can bring to their Kidblog projects. As a teacher, you can also create a class blog as a way to communicate with parents. Include information about daily happenings in the classroom, upcoming deadlines, and learning tips for students. Teachers could also use Kidblog as a digital portfolio, which could grow with students from year to year within the same school district.

The ability to adjust privacy settings on Kidblog provides an opportunity to respect (and protect) your students' privacy, but it also serves as an invitation to discuss the issue of online privacy and safety with them. Ask your students to discuss issues such as who can see their blog versus other blogs on the internet. Also, be sure to share with your class clear behavioral norms around acceptable content. Having these discussions is a great way to encourage critical thinking about the ways students interact on the web.

Tool Overview

Kidblog is a blogging platform intended primarily for kids, moderated by teachers, librarians, or school administrators. The site requires an adult to create a classroom or school account with only an email address. There's also a one-click option through Google's universal login, making it very convenient for Google users. After creating an account, teachers follow a set of links to set up multiple classes, adjust privacy settings, post a message, and get kids blogging.

Students aren't required to provide an email address to use the service. Students can get connected using only some general information: A URL, their teacher's name, and the class name (as created by the teacher) are all they'll need. Students can then select their name from a class list previously imported by the teacher. Teachers can manage and moderate their students' blogs, and additional features include private commenting, embedding content within blogs, email support, and free themes.

Learning Value

Editor's Note: Teachers should know that Kidblog has some privacy concerns. Consult our full evaluation for details.

Blogging is a great way to support students as both writers and creators of digital content. Students' writing instruction can be much more meaningful when they know they'll have an authentic audience for their work. Using Kidblog, the various privacy levels allow students access to an audience that could include peers, parents, other teachers, and even the public. Students can also develop editing skills by peer editing each other's blogs. For digital creators, publishing on the web is a great way to encourage students to learn an important 21st-century skill. Additionally, they'll get a chance to practice digital citizenship in a safe, closed environment, rather than jumping right into the deep end when they're older.

For teachers, Kidblog has a strong social media presence, with a support blog, Twitter feed, and Google+ page. Teachers are encouraged to share ideas, interact with others, and contact the site's support staff with any issues or requests for new features. As with any Web 2.0 tool, these features are crucial in ensuring kids' learning outcomes. On top of that, Kidblog's features make the process efficient so teachers can focus on what matters most: student learning.

Rating Details

Overall Rating

3

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

3

Content creation on the web is generally an engaging activity for students. Kidblog provides support so students and teachers can focus on the writing.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

4

Kidblog advocates teacher management of student-empowered writing, and providing a safe space for student exploration is the focus.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

3

Safeguards and security are built in through teacher options for privacy settings; it's easy and efficient.

Common Sense Reviewer

Stephanie Trautman Classroom teacher

About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Teacher Reviews

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Simple to set up and easy to get started!
1

Michelle B.

4

October 25, 2013
A Fantastic Walled Garden

Stephen B.
Mary E. Volz School
Runnemede, NJ

5

February 23, 2016
Great way to help foreign language students build their language skills & creativity!

Rachelle Dene P.
Riverview High School
Oakmont, PA

5

February 12, 2016
Great Tool for Independent Reading Accountablility

Heather D.
Propel Charter School-Homestead
Homestead, PA

5

February 7, 2016
The students ask to go on Kidblog! Great way to put writing skills on display.

Brad M.
Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy
Melbourne, FL

4

December 1, 2015
Students love blogging on Kidblog... even when they discover blogging is actually writing!

Lindsey B.
Campbell Middle School
Campbell, CA

4

April 14, 2015

See All 41 Teacher Reviews

© Common Sense Media Inc. 2017 All rights reserved. Common Sense, Common Sense Media, Common Sense Education and Common Sense Kids Action, associated names, associated trademarks, and logos are trademarks of Common Sense Media, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. (FEIN 41-2024986) Teaching strategies and digital citizenship tools for educators.

Speaking & Listening
SL.2: Comprehension and Collaboration
SL.2.1	Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
SL.4: Comprehension and Collaboration
SL.4.1	Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
SL.7: Comprehension and Collaboration
SL.7.1	Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Writing
W.3: Production and Distribution of Writing
W.3.4	With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)
Range of Writing
W.3.10	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.4
W.5: Production and Distribution of Writing
W.5.4	Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

W.5.6	With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.
Range of Writing
W.5.10	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.6
W.7: Production and Distribution of 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.

Kidblog

Safe, supportive blogs boost kids' writing skills and digital citizenship

Subjects and Skills: Kidblog

Lesson & Activity Ideas

Tool Overview

Learning Value

Rating Details

Overall Rating

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Key Standards Supported

Speaking & Listening

Writing

W.4

W.6

Teacher Reviews

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