SPORTING THE NEW LOOK WITH THE NEW TEMPLATE DESIGNER

The new Template Designer in blogger is fun to play with and easy for anyone to create a new blog or to spruce up an existing blog. Being able to change the columns and footer gives scope for addition of more engaging content presented in a more aesthetic design. The width adjustments of the columns and the whole blog gives you an idea of just how you would like to present your readers with the much desired information. Easily navigable with the addition of the Pages at the top or on the sidebar. More Pages will be added in the near future. Being able to add a bit of code to make the blog mobile friendly adds to its value to the readers who wish to update themselves from their mobile phone.

Well, this blog has been spruced up a bit. Addition of the column on the left and in the footer makes all the information more presentable. The older version of this blog, Great Expectations can be viewed in the screencast above.
You are welcome to let me know what you think of it in the Comments section.
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ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO BLOG IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

Students have to learn a second language in most countries as part of their school curriculum, and that includes Spanish, French, German, Japanese,Chinese,etc.. Indian school students need to learn both a second and a third language, such as English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, as part of their curriculum. And some opt for Foreign languages such as French and German when there is a choice. Learning a language other than their mothertongue can be difficult, especially the Grammar aspect. And some students master the language Grammar, but are not fluent in their speaking. Most students master the English language especially if it is the medium of instruction in their school. It is essential that students get good grades in their chosen language so as to maintain a healthy overall average of their subjects. Teachers and parents can encourage their children to create a blog in their chosen languages. Having a blog in English

CUSTOMIZE YOUR BLOGGER BLOGS WITH THE NEW TEMPLATE DESIGNER

Blogs can be customized to suit the contents of your blog . Blogger has added a new feature called the TEMPLATE DESIGNER .You can select templates for your blog from professionally designed templates and customize it to your taste. Blogger has now added several new TEMPLATES for you to pick from, with a wide range of categories such as health, food and drink, recreation, technology, science, etc,.  Additionally, new  BACKGROUNDS are also made available for you to choose from various categories such as texture, nature, abstract among others. Educators and students of all age groups can find great ways to make their blog appealing according to their content and aesthetic taste. You can change the LAYOUT of your blog and adjust the WIDTH as well apart from having the previous features of choosing COLORS and FONTS. Class blogs can now be made more interesting quickly and more students and teachers can find the newly added features easy to use. Existing blogs can also change their look by clicking on the DESIGN button on the BLOGGER dashboard. There is also a DESIGN button on the top right hand of your blog from which you can access the Template Designer.
Student blogs need not be drab and teachers blogs boring, they can be enhanced with the new Blogger Template Designer. And this will see more teachers and students going online to start their personal as well as class blogs on Blogger.
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COOL GADGETS TO SPICE UP YOUR CLASS BLOGS

Students around the world are discovering the joys of creating , and communicating with their class blogs, and some have ventured into setting up their own personal blogs as well. And they love receiving comments from other students and teachers and simply anybody that reads them from across the globe. As some have discovered , it is not just about adding content and sharing their views and taking their projects online, it also needs enhancement in the form of photos, videos, slideshows, calenders, countdowns, forms, PowerPoint presentations, relevant to their choice of topic. Adding gadgets that are available for free from the internet not only enhances their blogs , but also gives them a chance to be creative. Depending on their relevance, gadgets can be fun, engaging and at once spark interest to a reader to stay on that blog/page for longer. The personality of the blogger comes through much better than if the blog had content alone.
For those using blogger as the blogging platform, there is a wide choice when you click on the Add A Gadget button.
Step 1. Go to the LAYOUT page.
Step 2. Click on the Add A Gadget button.
Step 3. The Basics Page opens up showing you a wide range of gadgets. Here you can choose to add a picture, video bar, slideshow, adda poll, a blog list that you enjoy reading, or simply add any gadget you choose from any other free website by copying and pasting the HTML code into the HTML/Javascript gadget.
You also have the option of choosing readymade gadgets on offer from a wide selection under Featured, Most Popular, & More Gadgets option given on the upper left of the Basics page.
Believe me, you will enjoy the selection each of those. The educational ones include clocks showing different time zones, dictionaries, wikipedia search, virtual pets, word a day, calculators, etc. And of course some games to add on to your blog.
And when you are done with that , you will most likely want to enter the Student Blogging Challenge. You can register your personal blogs here. And Good Luck! You not only have the chance to grab some eyeballs, and get some comments, you also get to read some of the finest student blogs from across the world using different blogging platforms. And do not forget to leave comments that will lead them to read your own blog as well. So begins collaboration and communication among students of different schools and colleges.
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COOL GOOGLE GADGETS FOR THE CLASS BLOGS

As more students and teachers take to blogging in the classroom, the idea of adding gadgets on their homepage certainly appeals to them. As the blog becomes decorative, more students engage themselves with the fun activities embedded there and visitors and traffic increase and spend more time on their page and perhaps being encouraged to leave a comment making it worthwhile. Adam Bowman is a freelance programmer who has created several useful gadgets that can be edited to your specifications and then generating a code(html), which you can then embed on your desktop or webpage.
Below is one such gadget that tells you the time.
This Ball Clock gives you a fun and unique way to see what time it is. The balls on the top two ramps represent the minutes and the balls on the bottom ramp represent the hours.


Animals that move always interest students especially those you can feed and water Customizing a virtual pet such as a hamster and showing off on a webpage or your blog certainly makes your blog the envy of others.
The hamster below can be guided to eat or drink water or mount a wheel to keep running, all with the click of your mouse.



You can choose from several gadgets that can be fish,stingray,spider,clocks,games. These gadgets are now available as Google Gadgets as well and are compatible with wordpress or blogger blogs. You can also edit them to personalize and add on social networking sites such as hi5, facebook,myspace or they can be emailed.

TOP 5 REASONS TO START A CLASS BLOG

Integration of technology in the classroom is not limited only to PowerPoint presentations. Teachers who encourage the setting up and maintaining of class blogs are more in favour of it once they see the results.
Blogs are vehicles of self expression. Bloggers learn to express themselves in different words,and a different perspective. It gives insight into a person and the person learns to freely blog about issues that he is passionately wanting to communicate about.
The language improves greatly as also the style of writing. Vocabulary improves and essays written offline also show improvement in Grammar,Spelling and sentence construction.Grades 6 and above can be allowed to update a class blog.Confidence levels improve and they love networking.
Having individual blogs becomes the next step and the students love positive comments and feedback,not just from family and friends,but also from students and teachers from across the world. They love leaving comments themselves on to other student blogs from around the world. Having a global audience makes them work harder and more passionately about everything.
A healthy competitive spirit surfaces to be the best blogger and the students use their time more effectively,learning to be part of the future generation that values social media and online learning.
Maintaining good blogs today is necessary. Digital literacy adds value to a person.
The recently concluded 2009 Student Blogging Challenge by Edublogger had some wonderful entries. And below is a video made by one particular class that shares their thoughts on blogging.

INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION WITH CLASS BLOGS

Creating and maintaining class blogs can be a very effective form of integrating technology in the classroom. Elementary schools can have one class blog with the teacher having one mail id and several user ids. middle and high school students can be encouraged to have their own blog. Blogging makes them learn perfect English. At once challenging and engaging,each student will learn the art of translating thought to his/her blog. Children can pursue their hobbies writing about their pets,friends,class, video games,soccer.They can also write poetry,learn to embed videos,slideshows,power point presentations,photos taken by them. Creativity is enhanced. When comments are asked for from the other students,teachers,parents and anyone from across the globe,they really work hard at everything with a positivity not seen before. They can use their blog to make their own notes,links,references,add audio,video-the list is endless. It is for the class teacher or subject teacher to make use of this excellent tool to constantly engage her/his students online,which they absolutely love anyway. Guidance and online safety measures are what the teacher must be willing to take up. Paul Hamilton enumerates what he found when he visited Mrs.Smith's 6 th grade class to check out their class blogs.