LBC Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 (edited) I have very little experience with blogs, but I'd like to learn, and teach my dc. First a little background: We're in BC, Canada. Our grad program includes credits for grades 10 - 12. SS is covered as follows: Social Studies 10: Canada - 1815 - 1914 Social Studies 11: Canada & the World/Global Village/government/geography - 1914 - current History 12: 20th Century World History We're on Modern History in our history rotation. My tentative plan is to cover the topics of all three years this coming school year. To get credit for each course, dd would need to present a "final project". I was thinking that she could set up a blog, and present her final project for each year on the blog. What I need to know from those who are expert bloggers: What sort of applications can I do with a blog? Timeline: I'm thinking that I can create a timeline template by using a vertical table along the left, and dd can fill in the events as we cover them. Is there a better way to set up a timeline on a blog? Maps: Can I have her scan the maps she makes and put them on the blog? Essays: Can dd copy and paste her Word documents into the blog without messing up the formatting? I like the idea of a blog, and I think dd would work much harder on something that might be read by more people. I'd love more ideas of what can be done, if you have suggestions. I'd also love to see what other students have done, if you have any links. Thanks! Lori ETA: I'm going to cross post on highschool board. Edited June 30, 2009 by LBC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 What an intriguing idea! I think she'd be very excited and motivated to show the world her timeline work. I'm both a web programmer and an avid blogger. I feel like I can do almost anything on the web! But for a blog, you may have to stick to html or text, unless you can find a spreadsheet app you can input in your blog. I'd use an HTML table (with a WYSIWG editor if you don't know HTML). Timeline: I'm thinking that I can create a timeline template by using a vertical table along the left, and dd can fill in the events as we cover them. Is there a better way to set up a timeline on a blog? The vertical table might get a little long, but sure, that would work. A horizontal table would be easier to read, you'd just have a very wide page as she adds more. Here's something that might help visualize: http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html Maps: Can I have her scan the maps she makes and put them on the blog? Sure! I take photos of all my daughter's artwork and upload the photos to our blog. Essays: Can dd copy and paste her Word documents into the blog without messing up the formatting? Yes, Word probably has some sort of web-friendly cut/pasting you can do, it's been awhile since I used Word though. But for essays, should be no problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBC Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 What an intriguing idea! I think she'd be very excited and motivated to show the world her timeline work. I'm both a web programmer and an avid blogger. I feel like I can do almost anything on the web! But for a blog, you may have to stick to html or text, unless you can find a spreadsheet app you can input in your blog. I'd use an HTML table (with a WYSIWG editor if you don't know HTML). Timeline: I'm thinking that I can create a timeline template by using a vertical table along the left, and dd can fill in the events as we cover them. Is there a better way to set up a timeline on a blog? The vertical table might get a little long, but sure, that would work. A horizontal table would be easier to read, you'd just have a very wide page as she adds more. Here's something that might help visualize: http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html Maps: Can I have her scan the maps she makes and put them on the blog? Sure! I take photos of all my daughter's artwork and upload the photos to our blog. Essays: Can dd copy and paste her Word documents into the blog without messing up the formatting? Yes, Word probably has some sort of web-friendly cut/pasting you can do, it's been awhile since I used Word though. But for essays, should be no problem! Thanks! This is helpful. I don't know HTML. I was hoping I could just use the tools in the blog. I was playing around with Homeschool Blogger, and trying to use the tables tool to create a timeline. Are there certain blog hosts that would be better than others for what we're trying to do? Lori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 (edited) Oh, you don't need to know html, I just said that to mean I didn't know of any "widgets" in Wordpress blogs for example that might help put a timeline in a blog page. Thus it would have to be just plain text and tables. Definitely use the editor to make html tables. :) I'm only familiar with Wordpress blogs, I try others but keep coming back to Wordpress. I don't think it matters which blog you use, so if Homeschool Blogger does the job, go for it! Edited July 1, 2009 by Satori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Thanks! This is helpful. I don't know HTML. I was hoping I could just use the tools in the blog. I was playing around with Homeschool Blogger, and trying to use the tables tool to create a timeline. Are there certain blog hosts that would be better than others for what we're trying to do? Lori Widgets are the little bits of programming that allow you to put special features into a blog. You don't have to do the programming, because you can copy and past the code into your blog. On Blogger I do this in the layout section. For example, I have a Yahoo avatar that I can dress in all sorts of clothes and put onto the blog. I know that Blogger.com has free hosting that allows lots of features to be added. One thing that I like is that I can have a blog with no advertising. It's been a while since I started my blog, but I think there were also options to make it non-searchable and maybe even to put a password onto it (depending on how much privacy you wanted). Sounds like a really fun idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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