Blogging guidelines for students

ALL STUDENTS MUST READ THIS POST


This blog has two purposes:

1. to practice a variety of uses of electronic communication - ie: e-mail, blogging and uploading photographs, posting of material on another web-site, linking to other material, etc.
2. to practice evaluation of work and helpful criticism of other students' work

When can I post to the blog? You can check and post to the blog at school or at home. However, remember the importance of time management in school - if you have work that should be finished by a deadline, or you have got a backlog of work, then it is not appropriate to spend very much time checking the blog in a lesson.
Checking your comments. If you post some work for consideration by other students, then remember to check to see if others have made comments. Remember that the comments may come from students in another class.
BEFORE YOU POST
Remember this is a public blog.
All students should post at least once during the year. Remember that you are looking for helpful feedback on your work, so think about what it is you want to know.
Posting for help while you are working on a task. If you are adding work for comments then don't wait until you have finished it. Put it on towards the end of a lesson, and look at the beginning of the next lesson to see if there are useful comments to help you improve it. If you are looking for specific help, then explain what it is you need help with - for example, you might ask for comments on whether the background and text are suitable for the target audience.
Can I post completed work? Of course. If you have done good work, then put it on the blog, it may give other people ideas to develop their own work. It is also a public gallery for completed work in your ICT class - remember anyone can look at the blog - please clearly mark this type of work as COMPLETE or FINISHED.
BEFORE YOU ADD A COMMENT
Comment must only be helpful and constructive. Posting just an opinion does not help the person to improve their work as they are working on it.
For example: "I think that is really good." "I don't like it."
This doesn't help the other person to understand what is good or bad about it. Explain what is good or bad about it.
For example: "I think that you have chosen a good colour scheme for an audience of year 6 students, the colours are bright and friendly, but do not distract from the pictures. The font is clear and easy to read". "The animation seem rather fast to me, try comparing this with a slower animation speed."
Can I just say that something is good? Provided you are not spending much time in the lesson then there is no reason why you should not add a comment to give praise to another student about a piece of work that they have completed.
GENERAL RULES OF BEHAVIOUR
Never post personal or private information (including name, address, photo, etc) of yourself or any other person.
This is a public blog - while only the invited team members can post and comment, anyone in the world can read it.
Make your posts clear and easy to read.
Avoid text speak. If you get in the habit of putting u, ur, l8r, and so on then you may put it into your work, where it isn't appropriate. It also makes it harder for other people to read - and this is a public blog that other people outside the school may choose to follow.
Any students who post unhelpful or unpleasant criticism of others will have their posts or comments deleted, they will be removed from the blog and their parents will be told why.
Any students who post material which is unsuitable or contrary to the school's principles will have their posts or comments deleted, they will be removed from the blog and their parents will be told why.