BLOG – A web based discussion group What is a BLOG? A BLOG is a threaded discussion group based online. Users can post questions and comments that will be read and responded to by other members of the BLOG. How is a BLOG useful to my class? Your students can log on to your BLOG 24 hours a day to post questions about homework, assignments, papers, etc. Students no longer have to wait until the next day to ask questions in class or meet with their classmates. You can post any information you like on your BLOG. You may want to clear up questions about assignments, post readings, and answer questions posted by students. What are the advantages? Having a 24-hour resource broadens your classroom. The BLOG may be a great resource for shy students, or those who tend to be distracted by a classroom environment. Your students will be asking questions of not just you but of their classmates as well. This creates a community learning environment in which all students can take part. Using a BLOG will also help prepare students for college, as most college classes employ some sort of a discussion group. How do I make a BLOG? Under your website creation tool (http://www.bville.org/protected/teditpage.cfm), there is an option to manage your BLOGs. From here you can add and remove BLOGs and manage the individual threads in the BLOG. You will generally make one BLOG per group or class. For example you may want to have separate BLOGs for your 1st and 5th period classes, or you can choose to combine them into 1 shared BLOG. Within a BLOG there are threads. A thread is a discussion topic, such as “last night’s homework”. Within threads there are messages. These are the actual comments made by students or teachers.