Aussie Educator

Blogs, Pods, Tweets, …

blog [n.]

‘Blogs are usually [but not always] written by one person and are updated pretty regularly. Blogs are often [but not always] written on a particular topic - there are blogs on virtually any topic you can think of. From photography, to spirituality, to recipes, to personal diaries to hobbies - blogging has as many applications and varieties as you can imagine. Whole blog communities have sprung up around some of these topics putting people into contact with each other in relationships where they can learn, share ideas, make friends with and even do business with people with similar interests from around the world’.
So What is a Blog ? - Darren Rowse

‘A blog [a truncation of the expression web log] is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web and consisting of discrete entries [posts] typically displayed in reverse chronological order [the most recent post appears first]. Until 2009 blogs were usually the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject. More recently “multi-author blogs” [MABs] have developed, with posts written by large numbers of authors and professionally edited. MABs from newspapers, other media outlets, universities, think tanks, advocacy groups and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog traffic. The rise of Twitter and other “microblogging” systems helps integrate MABs and single-author blogs into societal newstreams. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning “to maintain or add content to a blog” ’.
Wikipedia, January 2014

podcast [n.]

A podcast is a digital media file or collection of files that is distributed over the internet. The files can then be played back on a computer or personal player [e.g. an Ipod]. The method by which podcasts are distributed is often called podcasting.
University of Birmingham Media Centre, Glossary

The word podcast comes from Apple’s iPod and the word “broadcast”.
Blubbry

tweet [n.]

‘A tweet is an online posting, or “micro-blog” created by a Twitter user. You can publish a tweet using a computer or a mobile phone. Once published, the tweet will appear on the Twitter home pages of all the users that are following you. Each tweet is limited to 140 characters or less, so you must choose your words wisely’.
The Tech Terms Computer Dictionary

There are blogs, podcasts and tweets [Twitter] on almost every imaginable topic, from bloggers of all kinds. On this page we have included quality educational blogs selected from Australia and overseas. Educational blogs, pods and tweets with a specific technological emphasis, and links about creating these, are found on the Education Technology page.

This page provides links to a range of each of these formats both from Australia and internationally. Many are award winning in their particular format.

Even though we have been selective, still check the source carefully. Be satisfied to have information from an expert, but not as confident with information from someone without standing in that area.

Take care when accessing any internet material to ensure it is suitable and appropriate for the persons using them !

Education Blogs

Australian

Individual Sites

  • Art Re-Source
    ‘This contemporary Visual Art Blog is in response to some of the frustration I felt as a student and then later as an artist, finding information on how to do things, who does things, and how it all comes together. Check out the info and let me know if there are things I should add or alter’
  • Australian Education Blogs
    ‘Although a new blog, this site features an up-to-date index of Australian blogs, daily feature blogs from the index and a weekly original post about Australian education’.
  • Booked Inn
    ‘Heroic adventures in teacher-librarianship’.
  • Bright Ideas
    ‘Encouraging teacher librarians and educators to actively engage with ICT, to share tools and experiences, to network on a global scale, and to embrace dynamic teaching and learning opportunities’.
  • Combatting Schooling Injustice : Comenius Dreaming
  • Updated ! Commentary from Carlton [Andrew Norton]
    Mostly concerned with the higher education area. From someone with a lengthy and diverse connection to it.
  • Dan’s Blog
    ‘What did you do at school today ?’ Dan Haesler.
  • Education WA
    ‘If you are looking for a bit of opinion on education in general and occasionally of education in WA, this is the right place’.
  • Education Watch International
    ‘Comments from Australia on the mostly parlous state of modern education by John J. Ray’.
  • EduResearch Matters
    ‘Australian educational researchers continually produce quality research that is used across Australia, and internationally, to influence educational policy and practice. A voice for Australian educational researchers’.
  • Grammar Gang
    ‘From the University of South Australia and Purdue University’.
  • Inter-tech Education
    A great site with with a technology emphasis but applicable to a wide range of curriculum areas. Search by month/year or by Categories from Apps and Coding to Special Events and Uncategorised entries. Well worth visiting.
  • Linking for Learning
    A website blog which links with a Linking for Learning Wiki’.
  • MathsClass
    ‘MathsClass is about teaching and learning in a maths classroom’. Have your say and share ideas.
  • MathsPig
    ‘It’s about FUN maths, MEDIA maths and especially DUMB maths. Anyone can tackle these problems. This blog simply encourages clear thinking with numbers’.
  • MissUniTwoCents
    Commentary on tertiary education from Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington [ANU]. Well worth a read.
  • OnLine Opinion - Education
  • Shared Thinking
    Kidsmatter.edu.au.
  • Updated ! The Book Chook
    ‘Book reviews, tips for parents and teachers from an Australian writer who’s passionate about children’s literacy, learning and literature’.
  • The Educating Parent
    Links to all the sites on Homeschooling from Beverley Paine.
  • The Spoke
    Early Childhood Australia’s Blog. ‘An extensive source of articles on early childhood research, policy and practice’.
  • The Treehorn Express
    ‘This site is about Primary School children. Enjoy yourself with the sub-sections on this site, which include many interesting articles. It’s possible to have fun, even during such deleterious times’.

Link Portals

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International

Individual Sites

  • Annoyed Librarian
    ‘Possibly the most successful, respected, and desirable librarian of her generation. She has no other interest than to bring her wit and wisdom to the huddled librarian masses yearning to breathe free’.
  • Astrid Seele
    Educator and writer born in Germany but with German, Scottish and now Australian influences. ‘Topics include the educational philosophy of the International Baccalaureate, the benefits of an holistic education, friendship issues in the digital age,’ more.
  • Bits
    ‘Bits is a multi-author weblog that provides instructors with teaching ideas from leading scholars, authors and editors’. USA.
  • Bridging Differences [Education Week]
    ‘Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch have found themselves at odds on policy over the years, but they share a passion for improving schools. Bridging Differences will offer their insights on what matters most in education’. USA.
  • Diane Ravitch’s Blog
    ‘A site to discuss better education for all’. USA.
  • Educational Origami
    ‘Educational Origami is a blog and a wiki, about 21st Century Teaching and Learning’. New Zealand.
  • Education in the Age of Globalisation
    Yong Zhao. ‘Creative, Entrepreneurial, and Global : 21st Century Education’. USA.
  • EducationState
    ‘Educationalists based mainly in the UK. Our primary goal is to draw public attention to what educational professionals really think : of their workplaces, of government policy and of the wider issues that affect their daily lives’. UK.
  • Edutopia
    ‘K-12 Education tips & strategies that work’. Multiple blog areas, videos, presenters, more. USA.
  • Inside Higher Ed
    ‘Source for news, opinion and jobs for all of higher education. We’ve got what you need to thrive in your job or find a better one : breaking news and feature stories’. USA.
  • IOE London Blog
    ‘Expert opinion from the UK’s leading centre for education research’. UK.
  • Langwitches Blog
    ‘Langwitches’ Blog contains thoughts, ideas and projects on my journey as a Technology Integration Facilitator and 21st Century Learning Specialist’. Brazil.
  • Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom P ractice
    ‘Major research interests focus on the history of curriculum and instruction, educational leadership, school reform and the uses of technology in classrooms’. USA.
  • Learn a Language on YouTube
    ‘Apart from selected YouTube videos, I am recommending sites with a great deal of language activities. Most are free of charge, some not’.
  • Online Learning Insights
    ‘Open and online learning is the theme of the blog. It’s also about learning, change and how to teach online in the open, networked, connected and rich platform we call the World Wide Web’. USA.
  • OxfordWords Blog
    ‘Articles about words, language, and dictionaries, plus English grammar and usage tips, interactive features, games, competitions, more’. UK.
  • Parenting the Gifted
    ‘Sarah Robbins is a gifted educator and speaker with a Masters in Education for Curriculum and Instruction’. USA.
  • Save Our Schools
    ‘As teachers, parents, and concerned community members, we urgently need better schools’. USA.
  • Schools Blog
    ‘News and updates for schools from within and around Microsoft’. UK.
  • Schools Matter
    ‘Explores issues in public education policy, and it advocates for a commitment to and a re-examination of the democratic purposes of schools’. USA.
  • Stager-to-Go
    ‘Dr. Stager is one of the most courageous voices on the educational landscape today’. USA.
  • Teacher Talk
    “EFL Classroom 2.0”. ‘When 1 teaches, 2 learn’. USA.
  • The Answer Sheet
    ‘School Survival Guide for parents [and everyone else]. The Washington Post’. USA.
  • The Clever Sheep
    ‘Teacher, learner, consultant, speaker and collaborator. Professional development, project based learning and Creative Commons are topics that are always on my radar’. Canada.
  • The Future of Education
    ‘Conversations on teaching and learning in a networked world’.
  • The Principal of Change
    ‘Stories of learning and leading ’. Canada.
  • This Week in Education
    [Alexander Russo]
    Original and other selected commentary. USA.

Link Portals

  • 100 Best Library Blogs For Suckers
  • Edublogs Awards
    ‘Welcome to the home of the Edublogs Awards - the annual event where the best education blogs of the year are decided by, well, you !’ International.
  • Edublogs TV
    ‘Welcome to Edublogs.tv - the video hosting site dedicated to education. Join Now’. USA.
  • Education Week
    Numerous blogs on topics from Teacher Beat to School Law, LeaderTalk to Curriculum matters. USA.
  • Teach100
    ‘Ranks and scores hundreds of education blogs. Check the top 100 and beyond to stay up to date on what people are talking about’. USA.
  • The Chronicle of Higher Education - Blogs
    Access multiple blogs related to this area of education. A wide variety of topics.
  • Updated ! Top 100 Education Blogs [OEDb]
    ‘Please note that this is by no means an exhaustive list of all of the great education blogs out there. Also note that this list is not ranked but rather is ordered alphabetically within each topic’. USA.

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Education Podcasts

Australian

Individual Sites

  • Education - ABC Radio National
    ‘A mix of education stories about teachers, researchers, parents and students’.
  • Fizzics Education
    Education with a science twist.
  • Teachers’ Education Review
    ‘The Australian podcast for teachers that bridges the gap between research, policy and practice’.
  • The Early Education Show
    #8216;Lisa, Leanne and Liam discuss the policy and politics of young children and early learning in Australia each week’.
  • Up Close Podcast
    ‘Fortnightly audio talk show about research, personalities and cultural offerings at the University of Melbourne’.

Link Portals

International

Individual Sites

  • 2¢ Worth
    “Teaching & Learning in the new information landscape …” . David Warlick. USA.
  • Dangerously Irrelevant
    ‘Ruminations on technology, leadership, and the future of our schools’. USA.
  • Education Transformation
    Interviews with significant educators and other educational material. USA.
  • English as a Second Language Podcast
    More for senior students and adults than younger people. Uses real life situations as a basis of the learning. USA.
  • Grammar Girl, Quick & Dirty Tips
    ‘Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Grammar Girl makes complex grammar questions simple with memory tricks to help you recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules’. USA
  • Stanford on iTunes
    ‘Download courses, faculty lectures, interviews, music and sports. Experience a wealth of learning from Stanford’.

Link Portals

  • 36 Educational Podcasts to Energise Your Teaching
    The best ‘features make podcasts on pedagogy some of the best professional development around. You get to choose what you listen to, how you listen to it, and when you listen to it, too. Plus, you can listen to them all year round, rather than waiting for a specific seminar to arise’. Well annotated listing. USA.
  • Podcasts for Educators, Schools & Colleges
    ‘This is the first and best UK directory to locate quality podcasts from over 250 carefully selected podcast channels for educational use’. UK.
  • Updated ! TeacherTube
    ‘We seek to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners’.

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Education Tweets

Australian

Individual Sites

  • Ben Jones
    @benpaddlejones. ‘Head Teacher Teaching & Learning @merrylandshs, proudly sui generis, expect the unexpected’.
  • BetterSchools
    @BetterSchoolsAU. ‘Official account of the Australian Government’s Better Schools : A National Plan for School Improvement’.
  • Dan Haesler
    @danhaesler. ‘Trying to do my bit to enhance Engagement, Leadership & Wellbeing in Education’.
  • Judy O’Connell
    @heyjudeonline. ‘Educator, learner, blogger, librarian, technology girl, author and consultant. Playing in higher education. Innovation for life’.
  • Peter King
    @Peter_J_King. ‘Principal of Byron Bay High School - the best High School in Australia’.
  • Roger Pryor
    @pryorcommitment. ‘Educator, speaker, blogger & musician fascinated by the ability we have via social media to Connect, Collaborate, Design & then Create other ways to do things’.
  • Stephen Harris
    @Stephen_H. ‘Passionate about innovative learning. Founding Director SCIL.

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International

Individual Sites

  • Alfie Kohn
    @alfiekohn. ‘Author and lecturer on topics in education, parenting, and human behaviour’. USA.
  • Chronicle
    @chronicle. ‘The Chronicle of Higher Education - The leading news source for higher education’. USA.
  • Diane Ravitch
    @DianeRavitch. ‘I write about education. I blog at dianeravitch.net.’. USA.
  • Discovery Education
    @DiscoveryEd. ‘Supporting teachers by bringing the world of Discovery into classrooms to ignite students’ natural curiosity’. USA.
  • Education Week
    @educationweek. ‘American education’s newspaper and website of record’. USA.
  • HETL Portal
    @hetlportal. ‘Advancing the scholarship and practice of higher education teaching and learning’. USA.
  • OECD Education
    @OECD_Edu. ‘Work on education and skills provides policymakers with the information they need to improve the quality of education worldwide’. France.
  • Randi Weingarten
    @rweingarten. ‘American Federation of Teachers President, committed to improving schools’. USA.
  • UK Education Matters
    @SchoolDuggery. ‘Keeping an independent and occasionally caustic eye on schools and education’. UK.
  • Vicki Davis
    @coolcatteacher. ‘Best teacher blog winner, co-founder @flatclassroom - called the Wikinator by my students, author’. USA.

Link Portals

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Other Information

Creating a Blog

Creating a Podcast

Other Options

  • EDU - YouTube
    ‘Find short lessons from top teachers around the world, full courses from the world’s leading universities, professional development material from fellow educators, and inspiring videos from global thought leaders’. USA.
  • How to use Facebook as An Educator
    Australian Museum. Post with links to more information.

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